Yorkshire Pudding

It's been so long since I've blogged. However, I put a picture of the scrumptious Yorkshire Puddings that I made tonight on Facebook and I was inundated with requests for the recipe (by which I mean that my neighbour, who is also my friend and therefore counts as TWO people, mentioned that she might like the recipe).

Yorkshire Pudding reminds me of when I was a kid. My mom used to make them and I remember also eating them at various restaurants when we lived in Scotland and in England. It is quintessential British comfort food, perfect for an October dinner.

Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.

There are many recipes online and they pretty much all agree on the main ingredients:

1 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 cup white flour (I use cake & pastry flour)
4 large eggs, beaten
a pinch of kosher salt

Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well. The mixture should be smooth and thin, with bubbles on the top. Set it aside (you want the batter to reach room temperature, assuming that your room temperature is neither warm nor cold).

Use a dark 12 cup muffin tin if you have one. Pour about one teaspoon of vegetable oil into the bottom of each cup. (This isn't a Weight Watchers blog, ok? Don't use olive oil as it will smoke. Plus, olive oil is a crime against Yorkshire Puddings.)

Put the muffin tin into the oven to preheat it, for about 5 minutes. Don't remove it from the oven until the oil is bubbling and you have completed the next step.

Meanwhile, once the batter has reached room temperature, give the mixture another quick whisk. You should be able to achieve a bubbly, almost frothy texture.

Remove the hot tin from the oven. The oil will be sizzling in the bottom of each cup. Carefully divide the entire batter between the 12 cups. There will be enough to fill each cup about half full.

Bake for about 25 minutes, but keep an eye on them. They will rise and get very puffy. The tops should be deep golden brown, but the insides will remain white.

I was thinking about trying to come up with a more healthful version of this, but then I thought to myself, "Life is short. Leave the Yorkshire Puddings alone." My kids call them "the yummy buns". Because all the other buns I make are crap, I guess.

These Yorkshire Puddings are pure bliss, meant to be enjoyed with a beef roast, a glass of Merlot and some lovely roasted autumn harvest vegetables. Enjoy!