help! got to make yorkshire puddings!

[kitbit]

Have invited some German friends round for Sunday lunch and have promised them a roast..they are beside themselves with excitement (good way to start a lunch, definitely!!) Was feeling v happy and smug and under control when she said "ooh, yorkshire puddings and everything????!"

yikes, my yorkie puds are always like frisbees. HELP!!! Need a good batter recipe and a foolproof method PPPLLLLLLLLEEEEAAASSSSEEEE! Need to make the individual ones rather than the big proper yorkshire one.

grovel

Do they know that Yorkshire puddings are not meant to be like frisbees?

How many yorkshire puds do you need? To make 4 individual puds in those special yorkshire pudding trays you need:
2 oz plain flour
1/4 pint milk
1 egg

It doesn't really matter which way you mix them. Purists will sieve flour into bowl, make well, add egg, mix and then add milk mixing all the time.
I tend to make mine in a 1 pint pyrex jug, so I measure the milk, then add the egg and beat it together a bit, then add the sieved flour.
The important things are that you need to make the mix in advance (half an hour is sufficient, 4 hours is too much) and that the tin should be preheated - with a bit of oil or fat in it - at top of oven. The yorkshires should cook at Reg 7 or equivalent for electric.
You can double, triple or whatever with the mixture but the shallow yorkshire pudding pans really do make a difference

do not use self raising flour. It has to be plain. Make sure that you pre-heat your trays so the oil is smoking. Do not open the oven door to have a look until the right amount of time has gone by.

I repeat, do NOT use self raising flour.

I second aunt bessies.... save your self the stress

repeat PLAIN flour, smoking hot oil, top of hottest oven you can get, mixture should be quite runny (sorry don't weigh I just do flour eggs with a dash of milk mix until all lumps have gone and add milk until runny)

Do not open oven for at least 10 minutes or as long as recipe says.

practise before hand!

the trick is to get the fat really hot before putting them in. My recipe is what lilymaid calls the purist version. I'm not a purist, but you find that you may need more or less milk depending on the flour and the size of the eggs.

don't use aunt bessies. they're not as nice. But what you can do is make them the day before, keep in the fridhe and then reheat on the day - reheating puffs them back up a bit.

actually my recipe is cargirl's recipe. bake for 10-15 mins depending on how deep you've filled the tin.

Ok my fool proof recipe and it hasnt failed me yet.

Prepare night before and cool in fridge

100g plain flour
pinch of salt (optional)
2 eggs
1/4 pint of milk

Mix together and cook for about 10 mins in the hottest temp you can get. Do not open your oven door!

Once you've made the batter and whisked it, put it in the fridge for a good half hour - longer if poss and then whisk it again before putting it into the very hot oil.

aunt bessies are horrid - no way can they be described as "yorkshire" puddings that is offence to yorksire folk

pants pants pants cannot buy Aunt Bessies in Spain so cheating not an option...dammit! Otherwise I would have been sorely tempted. And sadly yes, they do know yorkies are meant to be light and puffy. Curses!

But am liking the idea of doing them the day before especially as my oven is tiny and a bit rubbish so was wondering how I was going to get it all in there anyway!

But...don't think I can get plain flour, only SR. Will that eff it up?

self flour does not work - think you have just got out of it v gracefully!

repeat: do NOT use self-raising flour. For some totally paradoxical reason, this will STOP them from rising.

Trust me, I know.

really? I've lived in spain for 6 years and have only just found self raising.

but yes, plain is imperative.

aww that's a big shame actually, there is a new english food shop in the next town I might try there just in case they do it. But....SenoraP, in case not which of the spanish flours is the closest do you know? I have driven myself nuts trying to work out which one has what properties!

thanks everyone, if I can sort the flour thing then we're good to go! If not might just have to add extra wine so they forget.

well all flour is plain unless it says "con levadura" (which is rare - as I say I've only just found it). you want "harina de trigo para reposteria" , but "para rebozados" will do if that's all they have.

From a true Yorkshire girl - there are some very good tips here, but here's another one - don't use all milk! Use milk at first to start mixing, then get to the correct consistency with water.

So:

100g plain flour
2 eggs
Pinch salt
Milk, then water.

Put the flour and salt into a bowl, break eggs into bowl, start to mix with a little milk, get rid of all lumps, then add water until the batter is the consistency of single cream. Add to patti tin/yorkshire pud tin, whatever, once the oil is as hot as possible. Cook for about 20/25 mins, and as someone has already said, don't be tempted to open the door too soon! I've not really noticed a difference in whether the batter stands for a while or not, but it is meant to be better to let it stand to allow the gluten to develop.

Good luck, if I was you I'd have a go beforehand.

Oil? Has to be lard.

mmm think lard gets hotter????? Good point, I always did wonder about the ater thing, I too leave mine to stand and sometimes have to thin it down again afterwards.....

have used both. If I know they're made with lard, they taste better, however, if dp's made them with oil and I don't know... they're exactly the same.

As far as making them goes, as long as it is smoking, it doesn't make any difference.

bugger lard, it's goose or duck fat you need.

but goose and duck are rarities in Spain so I guess lard will do.

We just use sunflower oil - yes perhaps it should be lard but oil works fine!

funnily enough I did see some pats of lard nestled in amongst all the chorizos in the fridge the other day, I daresay they couldn't think what it was and therefore didn't know where to put it! I'll be sneaking back in to see if it's still there (probably been there since 1952 blurgh)