Category: Pastry

Where does Yorkshire pudding come from?

If you guessed Yorkshire, you’re partly right. This sort of open-pan pudding made with meat drippings has been popular in Britain since at least 1737 when the first recipe was published by “a Lady” in her seminal book, The whole duty of a woman, or, An infallible guide to the fair sex: containing rules, directions, and observations, for their conduct and behavior through all ages and circumstances of life, as virgins, wives, or widows : with rules and receipts in every kind of cookery . I need to get a copy of that for the missus for Christmas. Think?

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Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

If it looks familiar it’s because it’s almost identical to popovers, though just a tad richer. The main difference with Yorkshire pudding is that — classically — it’s baked in one large pan instead of individual servings (like American popovers). That pan needs to be heated and have at least a few tablespoons of smoking-hot meat drippings in it.

Just as with popovers, a successful Yorkshire pudding depends on well developed gluten, which is why I suggest using a blender, food processor or lots and lots of whisking is you want a decent puff. Assemble:

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) melted, unsalted butter
5 ounces (1 cup) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
8 ounces (1 cup) milk, room temperature
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) melted fat from a roast, or lard or butter

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Joe on Catholic Catechism

Reader Mikey has an amusing question:

Hi Joe! Loved your St. Lucy posts, and I hope you won’t be offended, but being a Catholic I wonder if you can answer something for me. Do Catholics really worship saints as, well, gods?

Ha! I love that. First let me say that the first commandment states that “You shall have no other gods before me.” The before me implies that the odd kitchen or tool shed god is permissible so long as you don’t forget who number one is!

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Making Popovers

Now me, I’ll eat a popover all by itself with jam, pork roast be damned. However there’s no denying how good they are as an accompaniment to meat. Plus they’re so fast and easy to make you can turn out a batch while your roast is settling on the counter. There’s a myth that popovers are tricky things. But that isn’t so, provided you’re clued in to the importance of developed gluten in the batter and can wield a blender, food processor or whisk with authority.

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Popover Recipe

Popover recipes tend to be very consistent in their proportions since the science that underlies them is constant. Herbs and other flavorings are an exception to that rule, and are popular with American cooks (traditional Yorkshire pudding has no herbs). Popover recipes can, however, differ in technique. I’m stymied by recipes that tell the cook to whisk the batter gently or until “just combined.” That’s a rule for pancake or crêpe batter — which popover batter closely resembles — or for quick breads or cakes, where you don’t want much gluten development.

It’s the opposite with popovers. In this case you want lots of developed gluten to give the rising bread the elasticity it needs to stretch and hold steam. For that reason I recommend a blender or a food processor. If you have neither of those and rely on a whisk, use plenty of elbow grease, and consider using bread flour (or a mix of half bread and half all-purpose) to amp up the gluten content. By no means use pastry flour, cake flour or a fine Southern flour, which won’t do the job here. Either go Yankee or make dinner rolls instead. The ingredients are:

1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) melted, unsalted butter
5 ounces (1 cup) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
8 ounces (1 cup) milk, room temperature

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Are popovers and choux the same thing?

VERY good question, reader Ashley. There are certain similarities but in the end they are quite different things. Choux batter is a more complex combination of pre-cooked (gelatinized) starch lubricated by fat (egg yolks). What you get is an ultra-elastic paste that can increase in volume by up to 600%. By contrast you’re lucky if your popover batter increases threefold. It’s a darn impressive feat still and all.

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What is a Popover?

A small Yorkshire pudding is the answer. Basically a very puffy, nearly hollow muffin. That’s the ideal at any rate, since popovers have a notoriously high failure rate, and all too often resemble actual muffins for their compact size and density. They don’t “pop over” in other words…overflow the bounds of the small cups they’re baked in.

Interestingly, they originate from a thin batter, a batter that is very similar to pancake batter though it’s treated a bit differently. For one it’s agitated a whole lot — popover batter is usually whipped up in a blender or a food processor. That’s a major no-no in the world of pancakes, as lots of working it makes a griddles cake tough.

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Where you been, Joe?

Well I’ll tell you. It all started nearly a year ago, when I made a donation to our local parish. They have a casino night each January to raise funds for school programming. Part of the event is a silent auction, for which parishioners donate prizes ranging from artwork to electronics. I’d just finished doing gingerbread houses for the blog so I figured: why not? “Your house rendered in gingerbread” for a recommended donation of $75.

I figured I was pretty safe from a major time commitment since most of the houses around here are simple, turn-of-the-century Kentucky bungalows or boxy Victorians. What I neglected to consider was one corner of the neighborhood that’s peppered with 50’s-era chalets. Wouldn’t you just know that the family who won the house would live in one of them…a high-peak three-bedroom with four dormers, two additions off the rear and a tricky set-back front porch containing several arches.

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Big Numbers

I’ve been answering so many baking questions lately, I finally decided to go have look at my analytics to see what was up. What I saw there floored me…more than three thousand of you good folks are stopping by to see me on the average day — with spikes of well over four thousand on the […]

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