I lived in Yorkshire for a year and a half and never learned to make Yorkshire puds there (I did eat my fair share of them though). And here I am in Chennai fiddling about with ratios and proportions. I wish I’d foreseen this obsession a bit sooner. But thankfully these are ridiculously easy to make, and it took just a few tries and a bit of tinkering to get them just right.

If you think pancakes are easy, I’ll do you one better with these. The batter uses no raising agents (no baking powder or soda), so all you do is whisk together flour, milk and eggs, pour into a muffin tin and bake. (Also any recipe that doesn’t require pulling out electrical gadgetry in the morning is always a win in my book.) Before the batter gets poured into the tin, we pour a little oil into each compartment and get it piping hot in the oven. This is a crucial step and it’s this batter in hot oil that ensures that billowy interior with that very desirable golden crispy lid.

Yorkshire pudding, although called pudding, is typically served as part of a traditional Sunday roast alongside beef and gravy. Eggs (a lot of eggs) give the puddings their characteristic rise. Most dishes that rely solely on eggs for lift (think souffles) will see them deflate quite a bit when they’re out of the oven. This is normal and will happen here too. I make the compote beforehand for this reason, and cook the puds just before serving. Bring them out to the table straight out of the oven – airy and light with their burnished tops, few things excite me more than this glorious sight.

We ate these for breakfast and I served them with a pear and ginger compote. The compote is sweetened with honey here but substitute with maple syrup or sugar, or if you really want to keep with the British theme—golden syrup. The ginger in the compote gives relief from the sweetness; a savoury component in sweet dishes is always a good idea to offset and balance out the flavours. Use any other fruit compote if you want or simply serve straight out of the oven with lashings of cream and honey.

YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS WITH PEAR & GINGER COMPOTE

Servings: 12 puddings

Ingredients

  • 140 grams flour
  • 200 ml milk
  • 4 eggs
  • Vegetable oil (see notes)
  • Cream, to serve

Pear & ginger compote:

  • 3 large pears, cored and chopped
  • 3 inch piece of ginger
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions

  • First get the compote going: bruise the ginger with the flat of your knife until it breaks down but is still in one piece. Add to a saucepan with the pears, cinnamon and honey.
  • Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the pears break down and become jammy - about 8-10 mins. When the pears become soft, use a masher if necessary to break them down.
  • Discard the cinnamon and ginger. Stir in the lemon juice. Set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 220 C. Pour approx 2 teaspoons of oil into each compartment of a muffin/cupcake tin. The amount of oil you’ll need will depend on the size of your muffin tin. I pour approx ½ cm in each compartment. Pop it into the oven for 7 mins until the oil gets really hot.
  • Meanwhile make the batter: whisk together the flour and eggs. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Make sure there are no lumps.
  • Pull the muffin tin out of the oven and pour the batter evenly into the compartments. Do this quickly but making sure not to spill batter on the outside. Pop it back into the oven to cook for 12-15 mins until well risen and golden.
  • It will deflate slightly upon cooling. This is normal. Serve immediately with pear compote and cream. Whip your cream beforehand if you’d like, but we like it just simply poured over the puddings and compote.

Notes

Serves 3.
The compote can be made and refrigerated up to 5 days in advance.

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