Yorkshire Pudding World Championships at the Grassington Festival

As a proud Yorkshire company, we couldn’t let this week go by without mentioning the forthcoming Yorkshire Pudding World Championships which are a feature of the annual Grassington Festival in the Yorkshire Dales. The festival, which also celebrates art and music, runs from 14th to 29th June.

The Yorkshire Pudding World Championships themselves take place on Sunday 16th June. Prizes will be awarded for the perfect classic Yorkshire pudding, but there are also other more creative classes for different flavoured puddings and gravies. The whole afternoon is rounded off by a Grand Yorkshire Pudding Relay Race – sounds like fun! For more information visit www.grassington-festival.org.uk

Soggy, deflated Yorkshire puds? Try these tips

Fish and Chips and Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding – the two dishes for which the British are most famous. But although Yorkshire pudding is a relatively simple dish with few ingredients, making perfect puds is no mean feat.

If you don’t want soggy puds or puds that won’t rise here are a few tips:

  • Use equal quantities of milk and flour to eggs – you can do this by cracking eggs into a measuring jug. Essentially this works out at around 2 spoons of flour and 2 spoons of milk per egg.
  • Always ensure that the batter mixture is smooth and there are no lumps
  • Use plain flour not self-raising flour
  • Leave the batter to stand before cooking – for at least one hour
  • Always make sure that the oven is as hot as possible
  • Add the batter to the tins only when the oil is smoking hot
  • If you want to ensure nice high puddings try adding a bit of beer to the mixture before cooking

Yorkshire pudding facts – did you know…?

  • The Yorkshire pudding was first known as a ‘dripping pudding.’ It was invented to make use of the fat that dripped into the dripping pan when meat was roasting.
  • The term ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ was first given to the dish in the 1747 when the recipe was published by Hannah Glasse (the Mrs Beeton or Delia of her day) in her book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
  • Nowadays Yorkshire puddings are generally served with a roast dinner, but they were traditionally served as a starter, particularly within large families. This was to fill diners up so that the meat and veg could be stretched farther.
  • There are roughly 280 calories per 100g in an average Yorkshire Pudding.
  • Yorkshire Pudding can make a very nice dessert served with fruit or jam and cream or chocolate sauce.
  • According to Guinness World Records, the largest Yorkshire Pudding ever measured 46.46 m2 and was made right here in Skipton in 1996 by the Skipton Round Table.

Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

4 large, fresh eggs, measured in a jug

Equal quantity of milk to eggs

Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp lard, dripping or vegetable oil

Serves 4

Heat the oven to the highest temperature possible.

Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.

Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible – up to several hours.

Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or ½tsp vegetable oil in a Yorkshire pudding tin (4 x 2″/5cm hole tin) or 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.

Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.

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