Yorkshire Pudding - How do you eat yours?

Yorkshire Pudding is thought to originate, as its name suggests, from my home County of Yorkshire in the North of England.

I'm told that the Yorkshire pudding recipe is similar to that of Popovers, but popovers are not meant to rise as high or be as airy as a traditional Yorkshire Pudding.

Like all things simple and homey, though, Yorkshire Pudding is the subject of much debate. People like it the way they like it.

Photo courtesy of gin soak

Although originating in Yorkshire, the Yorkshire pudding is popular all over the UK, indeed the world. There are few places that you can go that you will not find the legendary 'Traditional British Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding Sunday Roast Dinner' or indeed lunch on offer.

Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding is perhaps one of the most famous of British meals, however many people in the UK eat Yorkshire pudding with any roast meat or chicken, and it has always been a firm favourite as part of the "Sunday Roast Dinner".

If you don't see the answer to your Yorkshire Pudding question here please post your question in the guestbook and I will add it and the answer to the Yorkshire pudding FAQ.

Can I substitute the dripping or lard when making Yorkshire pudding?

Yes, I often use vegetable oil to make my Yorkshire pudding, especially if we have our vegetarian friends around for dinner.

Can you use self raising flour to make Yorkshire pudding?

No, your Yorkshire pudding will not rise if you make them with self raising flour. Never use self raising flour or any other raising agents when making Yorkshire Pudding.

Can you make yorkshire pudding without eggs?

A light, crispy, well risen Yorkshire pudding as we know it needs the eggs in the batter mix. I have only come across one Yorkshire Pudding recipe using egg replacer but I haven't tried it. I would love to hear from anyone who has.

What kind of pan do I need to make Yorkshire pudding?

You can buy specially made Yorkshire Pudding Tins, they have cups which are more shallow and flatter than those used for baking muffins but regular muffin or loaf pans will do the job fine. You really need to buy the best tins that you can afford so that they don't buckle with the high temperatures which are needed to cook Yorkshire pudding.

The first known Yorkshire Pudding dates back to the 1700's. That Yorkshire pudding was originally served as a first course to 'fill people up' who were poor and couldn't afford much meat.

Years ago, when the meat was cooked on a spit, the Yorkshire Pudding batter was put underneath and the fat and meat juice dripped onto the batter. Quite often there wouldn't be enough meat to go around so the children would get Yorkshire pudding and gravy as their main meal.

Now Yorkshire Pudding is most known for being served with a roast beef main course to form part of a 'traditional roast beef and yorkshire pudding dinner'.

Here in Yorkshire we often serve Yorkshire pudding on its own filled with onion gravy (sage and onion gravy with the Yorkshire pudding is popular in my family) so that the Yorkshire pudding itself acts as a kind of edible dish. This practice probably originated with people who could not afford crockery either.

The perfect Yorkshire Pudding should be crisp, light and airy, and be just a touch soft, but not soggy, inside.

The traditional Yorkshire Pudding recipe is made from eggs, milk and flour, and traditionally baked in beef dripping.

Yorkshire Pudding can be cooked as individual puddings, or as one large one that is cut up into pieces and served. Some people prefer the individual Yorkshire puddings, saying they puff up and brown more nicely. They also like the cavity that forms in the middle of the Yorkshire Pudding, letting it act as a bowl to hold lots of gravy.

Many people in Yorkshire and the North of England eat eat their Yorkshire pudding before the main meal, as a starter, and regard the custom of eating Yorkshire pudding with the main meal as "odd" and think it's a southern English habit.


I remember that my Grandmother used to make the most fantastic Yorkshire pudding.
Her yorkshire pudding recipe was in her head, she never measured ingredients, just seemed to have a sense of the right amounts.
Her Yorkshire pudding always turned out just right, perfectly risen, crispy around the edges and leaving a hollow to collect the gravy in and always that lovely golden colour that we associate with Yorkshire puddings.
If she was alive today I believe she would be horrified that you can now buy ready made mixes for the batter, or frozen, fully-cooked individual Yorkshire pudding that just needs re-heating.

I have to say that the 'convenience' Yorkshire puddings are not nearly as good as the 'real thing'especially my Grandmothers' which were cooked in the range at the side of the coal fire while the vegetables cooked in a pan on top of the coals... we have it too easy these days.

Rather surprisingly my Grandmother would also serve Yorkshire pudding when it had gone cold, after the meal. The leftover Yorkshire Pudding was sometimes served as a dessert, with milk and sugar, jam or treacle.

• The predecessor of Yorkshire Pudding, the dripping or batter pudding, has been cooked for centuries in Britain although originally they were flatter than today's well risen Yorkshire puddings.



• The first known Yorkshire pudding recipe was published in 1737 in 'The Whole Duty Of A Woman' and named 'A Dripping Pudding'. Eight years later a lady named Hannah Glasse published it in her Art of Cookery as Yorkshire Pudding.



• Traditionally Yorkshire pudding was a filler dish served with onion gravy before the main roast course in households that could not afford a lot of meat.



• A popular addition to menus in recent years in restaurants, cafes and bars is a king size or giant Yorkshire pudding filled with onion gravy or different meat, vegetable and gravy concoctions. This dish is served as a separate course emulating the original filler course.



• Yorkshire pudding can be cooked in a large flat tray, and cut into slices, which is called a bed of Yorkshire pudding, otherwise they can be served as small individual bun-sized puddings. Either way, the perfect Yorkshire pudding has a big dip in the middle, where the gravy is poured in, and the edges rise up around the edge of the dish into a crisp crust.

Just Google 'Yorkshire pudding recipe' and you will get thousands of results, however, I have gone with a recipe from Delia Smith, a very respected British cook who has written numerous books and made many TV programs, because I have found her recipes very easy to follow and whenever I have made one of her recipes the end result has always turned out as it should.

The Yorkshire Pudding recipe uses large roasting tins, which the meat was cooking in, but muffin tins can be used instead to make the smaller sized puddings.

The following is taken from Delia Online. It can also be found in Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course and Delia Smith's Christmas. It has also appeared in Sainsbury's Magazine (Nov 1993).

A classic Yorkshire pudding is not difficult to make provided you have the right recipe, the right size tin and the right oven temperature. I find a good solid roasting tin 11 x 7 inches (28 x 18 cm) makes a perfect pud for four people. So, for eight, I double the ingredients and use two tins.

Ingredients (to serve 4)
3 oz (75 g) plain flour
1 egg
3 fl oz (75 ml) milk
2 fl oz (55 ml) water
2 tablespoons beef dripping
salt and freshly milled black pepper


Make up the batter by sifting the flour into a bowl and making a well in the centre. Break the egg into it and beat, gradually incorporating the flour, and then beat in the milk, 2 fl oz (50 ml) water and seasoning (an electric hand whisk will do this in seconds). There is no need to leave the batter to stand, so make it when you're ready to cook the pudding.
About 15 minutes before the beef is due to come out of the oven, increase the heat to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C), add the dripping to the roasting tin and place that on a baking sheet on a free shelf. After 15 minutes remove the meat, then place the tin over direct heat while you pour the batter into the sizzling hot fat. Return the tin to the baking sheet on the highest shelf (or, if you have roast potatoes on that one, the second highest). The pudding will take 25-30 minutes to rise and become crisp and golden. Serve as soon as possible: if it has to wait around too long it loses its crunchiness.

On Sunday 11th June 2000 the first Great Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race was held in Brawby in North Yorkshire.

The organiser Simon Thackray arranged for 6 three foot in diameter Yorkshire puddings to be baked coated with yacht varnish. Each Yorkshire pudding 'boat' used up 50 eggs."