Justin Woods, head chef at The Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, and Greenhouse restaurant.

 

Question:

I have a friend coming for a meal and expecting homemade Yorkshire puddings but I can’t make them. Help!

Jon Hook, Lancaster

Justin says...

Yorkshire puddings take a bit of practice to get right but once you have mastered it, you can make them easily with plenty of confidence. Start by ensuring that you have a good non-stick Yorkie tray, nothing worse than making a great batch only for them to stick to the tin! For the batter, take equal amounts by volume of plain flour, milk and whole eggs. So you could use a cup measure, or a small bowl or anything else that ensures you have equal amounts by volume not weight. Start with your flour in the bowl, then whisk in your beaten eggs, the add your milk, try not to over beat but ensure it is well mixed and lump free. The batter is best left to rest for about two hours before you make the puddings. Pre heat your oven to 200C and place a small amount of vegetable oil into the tray and heat in the oven for about 10 minutes, you need to get the oil very hot, but do be careful. When the oil is hot, one third fill each segment of your tray and return to your hot oven. When the Yorkshire are well risen and getting a good colour, turn your oven down to about 150C and cook for a further 15 minutes to allow then to dry out, this will make them nice and crisp and prevent them from collapsing. As I said before just be careful when moving your Yorkshire pudding tray around with the hot oil in!