Yorkshire Comfort

There’s something about December that makes me crave comfort food. Sure it’s colder in the winter, and, yes, it’s the holidays, but I think it’s these shorter darker days that make me nostalgic for bright memories, especially when it comes to food. While the term comfort food is ubiquitous, what constitutes comfort food for each of us is unique. 

For me, it’s Yorkshire Puddings. Lovingly made by my dad nearly every winter, Yorkshire Puddings were my not-so-secret favourite treat. As a child I knew that given the chance, I would eat not just a couple of these fatty snacks, but the entire muffin tin of them.

The origins of these bready delights are not known, but their first appearance in a cookbook is probably the recipe for “A Dripping Pudding” in The Whole Duty of a Woman, Or, an Infalliable Guide to the Fair Sex, in 1737. In this recipe, pancake batter serves as the dripping pan for your meat, creating a “light and savoury” snack that leaves nothing to waste.

The term “Yorkshire Pudding” was coined, in print, a year later by Hannah Glasse in the less sexistly-titled The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Hannah adds a bit more detail, telling us how the pancake batter is made, and even goes as far as to say how to serve the puddings (with melted butter inside).

Nowadays, most home chefs make Yorkshire Puddings not by dripping their meat directly onto the batter, but by putting pan drippings into a muffin tin and heating up the drippings before adding the batter. In my house, this was sometimes an issue with smoke points. My dad, loveable as he was, could be a little absentminded. The drippings need only a minute or two at high heat; leave the drippings alone in the oven too long and you could be looking at a rude awakening from the smoke detector. So after clearing all the smoke out of the kitchen, and sometimes starting over again, we would add the batter to the drippings and cook until golden brown. I still remember the way the puddings fluffed up, making perfect pockets inside for additional gravy. For me, it’s the perfect winter comfort food.

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2 large eggs

1 cup (250 mL) milk

1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

pan drippings

In a small mixing bowl, beat the eggs until frothy; stir in the milk, then the flour and salt. Don’t worry about a few small lumps. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

Pour about 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) pan drippings into the bottom of each cup of a 12-cup medium muffin pan (enough to cover the bottom of each cup). Place the pan in the centre of a 425°f (220°c) oven until the drippings are very hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the batter into the hot drippings. (The cups will be only one-half to two-thirds full.) Return the pan to the oven and bake until the Yorkshires have risen and are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

—From Anne Lindsay, in Canada’s Favourite Recipes, by Rose Murray and Elizabeth Baird.