Making Yorkshire pudding shaped Yorkshire puds

[wildpoppy]

My Yorkshire puds are yummy - big fluffy balls of deliciousness. But how do I make them so they have a well in the middle so I could put things in them rather than big puffed up things? I think my kids (and me) night enjoy using them as a plate.

How do you make and cook them at the present?

Youll find the fat needs to be hot and when batter is put in the fat will go to the middle - making the shape you`re after. Maybe less batter per pud.

I put the batter mix into very hot fat and keep the oven door shut.

Mine come out sometimes with wells, sometimes balls and everything in between, as well as half one thing, half another. All part of the fun.

I wonder if the type of fat used has any bearing. Have you tried beef dripping (yummy)?

What's your recipe? They sound delicious

Delia's -( 3oz plain flour, 1 egg, 2floz water, 3 floz milk.) This makes 4 in a Yorkshire pudding tin, or 5 in a muffin tin.

I usually use about a (generous) tablespoon of rape seed oil in each well. I have used beef fat that has come off the joint before, and it has been really nice, but meat is rarely that fatty. Olive oil makes them a bit green , and they stick to the tin more.

I photographed them rising through the oven door once (new oven). They are fun.

I just use this and usually olive oil but same happened at christmas with goose fat. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9020/best-yorkshire-puddings

hmm - that seems to use twice as much egg (I'm afraid I am useless at cooking in grams, so not sure about the flour and milk).

They often come out looking like the one at the top left The ones in the picture are pretty random too.

It would be lovely to make a plate sized one, but I have never found a good size tin for that. The delia recipe was originally for one big one, but it seems to work better with small ones.

A bit off the point here but has anyone tried using silicone cases for them or would that not work

Mary Berry's recipe using 3 eggs is what you need, even the fat doesn't need to be sizzling. They come out perfectly every time and very uniform

That's the recipe I use OP but I use 3 eggs instead of 4. Mine always come out as monster Yorkshire puddings with wells. Never balls.

The oil has to be smoking hot. Olive oil isn't much good for that so use sunflower, vegetable or goose fat. I know you said you used goose fat before but was the oil smoking hot? I pre-heat the tray with oil in for 15-20 mins before putting the batter in.

Really hot fat (smoking hot) - the batter needs to start cooking as soon as it hits the pan & don't over fill (about 1/3 of the depth of the tray).

Mine tend to be like the ones in the pic. I have made some that were Aunty Bessie shaped using a cake tin and a combi microwave.

I didn't use the microwave part, just had it on the hottest setting but I think rotating during cooking helped them rise evenly.

You can't put too many eggs into a Yorkshire batter. I follow Delias recipe but if I haven't got scales to hand for any reason, get a cup or mug and fill it with flour. Put that in a bowl. Then fill the same mug with a mix of milk and cold water. Put that in the bowl too. Then fill the same mug with eggs. Put those in the bowl and add another one for luck. Smoking hot oil (not olive!!) and cook at 220 for 20 mins. Do not open the oven door.

I made my first EVER Yorkshire puddings this evening using Jamie Oliver's recipe (4 eggs, 200 g flour and 225 ml whole milk plus a pinch of salt, cooked in sunflower oil). The ones I made in muffin tins came out like eggs as big as a man's fist, but the ones I made in bun tins were cup shaped. Too much oil, though- some of it must have landed on the oven plate. My eyes are still smarting and I had to burn a scented candle in the kitchen.
The recipe said 190 degrees. I used my fan oven and think I should have set it lower.
Jamie's tip was to interrupt the flow with a spoon as you pour, that way the mixture doesn't "snag" on the metal and stop them rising. The family was very impressed, in spite of the smoke!

We ate them with smoked salmon and prosciutto with a salad to follow by the way... I freely admit I'm a member of the J.O. fanclub!