It is obviously nothing like what Americans call pudding (something which is sweet, jiggly and creamy). It looks more like some kind of bread. Could an American with no concept of it make it from a recipe?
My Grandma makes it sometimes, and I’ve tried but I can’t seem to quite get it.
It is a sort of bread, crispy on the outside and basically nothing in the middle, it’s supposed to have lots of air in it and puff up so you can poke a hole in it and pour the gravy on.
mm yum… maybe I should try and make it again… a good roast and yorkshire pudding…
Yes, absolutely.
It’s very, very good, and helps to stretch a meal. My mom makes it in muffin tins rather than one large pan, which I prefer.
Canadian Sue has an awesome recipe. I don’t have it handy and she’s no longer a member, but if you really want it I can probably get it.
It’s baked batter.
Sure, you can make it from a recipe. Once you’ve got it working, try baking some sausages in the pan first, then when they’re half-cooked, pour in the batter and bake until crispy - and you’ve got toad in the hole.
The American equivalents are called popovers. The recipe is quite easy; there are only four ingredients. The preparation and baking technique are the keys to making the them well. Here is the basic recipe taken step-by-step, and here are some useful tips to making them rise better. Enjoy!
First time I had it I commented on how it’d be good with syrup. Everyone looked at me funny. But seriously I see cooked batter I think pancakes even if they are crispy.
Note: This was one without beef and anything else added yet I’m not crazy.
You had to say that.
Now I want to try it! ponders I’ve got the makings downstairs… and some maple syrup…
You find milk and I’ll find flour
And we’ll have pudding in half an hour
Yes, it’s easy. A cup of milk, a cup of flour, a couple of eggs, and some salt. I make mine in the roasting pan (rather than a muffin tin) so it gets all of the meaty goodness.
As a native of Yorkshire, let me say this.
Legend has it that Yorkshire folk of yore would serve the pudding as a first course (with gravy and sugar) in order to fill up the guests who, in consequence, would then require fewer slices of roast beef.
This legend is completely untrue, probably.
By all means try it. It’s one of the easiest things to make, and looks elegant in a ramekin, served with your prime rib roast.
Yellowish-brownish-white, crispy-puffy-tender, beef drippin’s delivery platform. Cook in pan with roast. Eat to extremes. 
There is a great book called “Lobscouse & Spotted Dog… which is a Gastononimic companionm to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels” by A. Grossman.
It does not contain a specific recipe for the Yorkshire, but it has an entire section on puddings and how to make them. “Spotted Dog” is a pudding, btw.
The difference being that Yorkshire pudding is cooked with meat drippings.
I have that book. I wouldn’t touch 90% of what’s described in there (soused pigs’s face!) but it’s an entertaining read.
I’ve never even seen Yorkshire Pudding, but I must say that James Herriot certainly makes it sound delicious.
My mom makes this with roast beef for christmass every year. She doesn’t use gravy though. Instead she uses drippings from the roast beef.
We then have sailor duff pudding for desert. That is a molases based bread pudding covered in a heavy cream sauce. Yum yum.
For those considering Yorkies with syrup - Yes. Nigella Lawson serves Yorkshire pudding with maple syrup and cream, though the pudding has been cooked in vegetable oil and not beef dripping so there’s no “beefy” taste to it.
I’ve had to learn how to make Yorkshire puddings - hubby’s from Leeds. The biggest tip I can say is to get your fat as hot as possible. Dripping is good for flavour, but has a tendency to burn at very high temps. I use vegetable oil so I can crank the oven right up to get the oil smoking hot, pour the batter in then turn it down to the requisite baking temperature.
I say if you’re having a roast beef, pork or lamb, go for it. If you’re wanting an even more English-y treat, you need some good pork sausages, a great big wodge of mashed potato and some onion gravy. It’s one of the few times hubby will eat sausages, and it’s so bad yet it feels so good.
Jesus. I’ve got today off work - you don’t know how tempted I am to hit the supermarket after the rental inspection’s over, and grab some fixin’s for Yorkies.
You’re not crazy. My mum used to make double the amount of Yorkshire puds required (not easy, because they can be eaten in almost any quantity) and we would all retire to the kitchen after Sunday dinner and eat them with golden syrup.
(she also used to save the trimmed bacon rinds during the week and drape them all over the top of the roast potatoes on Sunday - and this was another post-dinner treat)
Thanks for the tip. That was probably my problem (mine were flat, and not very airy at all sighs)
The fat needs to be hot, but it’s also important for the whole oven to be up at maximum - not just-turned-up, but unquestionably roasting.
Even more Englishy still…
Roast some good pork sasuages at a medium heat (no more) for half an hour, in a deepish dish. (Add a bit of vegetable oil towards the end if they haven’t coated the dish.) (I’m a southerner, and think this beef-dripping thing is bollocks.) When they’ve started to brown, pour the batter mix all over and bake as above. The resulting sasuages inside yorkshire pudding are called ‘toad in the hole’, for reasons even Wikipedia does not supply. Serve with gravy.
IME, you don’t need to POKE any hole in them. The puddings come out of the oven already nicely bowl shaped. The one time I had them that they didn’t come out like that, they were heavier, and not at all Yorkshire pudding-y at all.