Yorkshire Pudding

Yorkshire pudding is one of my very favorite bread-type sides EVER. And it's so simple- think a less buttery, less sweet German pancake. So it's actually not pudding at all in the American sense, but in the British. Yes, Yorkshire Pudding hails from England (Yorkshire, actually...big shocker, eh?) and is traditionally served with roast beef. Sometimes it is baked in a pan, sometimes in a special shallow muffin tin made just for individual puddings. They usually puff beautifully when baking but fall as they cool, though my pudding sometimes struggles with the puffing bit. 

Some little old ladies I met in a kitchen supply store in northern England once told me that the key to retaining the puff was baking batter that had been very chilled. Another lady across the aisle told me I could only use eggs at room-temperature. Another admitted that she cheated by adding a bit of baking powder to the batter. I've tried all of these methods, and none have ever been consistent in their results. My conclusion: yorkshire pudding has a mind of its own and will puff if it dang well feels like it. Regardless of appearances, it's always the same buttery salty comforting pudding I crave.

Yorkshire Pudding

Recipe slightly adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Picture by Kelly

2 cups flour

2 cups milk

4 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place butter in 9 x 13 inch pan and melt (but do not brown).
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, milk, eggs, and salt. Pour batter into hot pan with melted butter. Bake about 25 minutes, or until deep golden brown (pudding will (hopefully) puff during baking but will deflate shortly after being removed from the oven.