Yorkshire Puddings That Mother Made

Many years ago when I was a young child we used to watch in fascination whenever my mother cooked or baked. She could make just about anything taste good and it was an added bonus when my brothers and I got to lick the spoon or bowl when she was baking cakes.

Sundays were pretty special. I got to shell the peas while she mixed the Yorkshires. Her Yorkshire pudding recipe was in her head, she never measured ingredients, just seemed to have a sense of the perfect amounts. On Sundays we always had a roast and whether that roast was beef, lamb, pork, chicken or even turkey she always made Yorkshire puddings. What else would a Yorkshire lady make to compliment the Sunday roast?

Although mum never measured ingredients everything that she made always turned out delicious and perfect. A real skill when you think about it that not many of us can emulate.

Her Yorkshire puddings always rose just right, crispy around the edges and leaving a hollow to collect the gravy in and they were always that lovely golden colour that we associate with Yorkshire puddings.

Traditionally Yorkshire puddings were a filler dish served with onion gravy before the main roast course in households that could not afford a lot of meat, but as far back as I can remember Yorkshires have been an integral part of the main course.

Although originating in Yorkshire they are popular all over the country, indeed the world. There are few places that you can go that you will not find the legend ‘Traditional British Sunday Dinner’ or indeed lunch on offer. The traditional British Sunday dinner always includes Yorkshire pudding as an integral part of the meal.

Yorkshires are a popular choice in most places that cater for others, including restaurants, pubs, cafes and works canteens and not just with roast dinners. You can also be served Toad in the Hole, giant Yorkshire puddings filled with gravy and I've even had Yorkshires filled with a chicken savoury sauce at a Chinese restaurant.

Although I prefer to make my own Yorkshire puddings, frozen cooked or uncooked versions are easily available and they taste almost but not quite as good. You can also get powdered batter mix where you just need to add milk or water, not as good in my opinion, but better than never having them.

My First Yorkshire Puddings

I should perhaps have used ready-made versions the first time that I attempted to make Yorkshire puddings. Newly married I was trying to impress my husband with a lovely Sunday lunch complete with Yorkshires. I did not have a recipe and tried to emulate my mother’s non-measuring method. An hour passed and my Yorkshire pudding still was not cooked. We ate the dinner but had to pass on the Yorkshires because I had added twice as much milk as necessary. I made sure that I used a recipe after that!

Click here to see my mother's recipe

Below you will see a slight variation of the recipe and certainly a cute helper!!