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British Yorkshire Pudding Day, Slow Sunday and My Grandma’s Traditional Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

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Sunday Lunch in a Yorkshire Pudding

British Yorkshire Pudding Day

Slow Sunday and My Grandma’s Traditional Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Today, Sunday the 5th February, is British Yorkshire Pudding Day! This special day is the brain child of Florence Sandeman of recipes4us.co.uk and I endorse it wholeheartedly. Today is also the start of my second weekend Blog Hop, my Slow Sunday event…….a time to share your slow Sunday recipes and/or blog posts, and your entries can be anything from a beef casserole to a vegetarian curry or stew, or home-made bread and marmalade – anything that you have cooked, baked or made for Sunday is acceptable, and the slower it is cooked the better. To return to British Yorkshire Pudding day again, here is what Florence of recipes4us says about this special British festival of batter puddings:

Over the years, I have come across numerous National food day celebrations, most of which  appear to originate in the USA. Americans seem to have a high regard for their favourite or traditional foods which they simply translate into celebratory days, and far from being nationalistic, these are merely opportunities taken to highlight much-loved foods or dishes, often in a fun and light-hearted way. I decided it was about time us British did likewise and in the same tone, so designated February 2008 to mark the launch of British Yorkshire Pudding Day.

Why Yorkshires?

To me, Yorkshire Pudding is one of the most iconic of British dishes, famous not only in the UK but also abroad.  It is a treasured dish which most Britons (and many visitors to our country) will have eaten at least once, and many who live in the UK consume it on a regular basis – once or twice a month, frequently more. It is also a recipe which has stood the test of time, with its present form boasting a history dating back to the 1700s and its predecessor, Batter Pudding, having been eaten perhaps centuries before that throughout Great Britain.  In fact, it’s probably safe to say that as long as meat has been spit roasted, some form of Yorkshire Pudding has been made, though no-one really knows when it was first eaten. More importantly, it is a recipe of the people –  no matter what their background or where they live, millions have enjoyed it, so what better British dish to honour than Yorkshire Pudding.

Why the 1st Sunday in February?

Although the idea was fully formulated some months before, in order to give everyone enough time to identify with the concept and ‘get on board’, I decided to delay the actual day.  February seemed a good month, not only because the weather, being rather chilly in the UK, is conducive  to eating comfort food, but it’s also long enough after Christmas that everyone will have forgotten any feelings of guilt they may have been harbouring for having over indulged. As Sunday Roast Dinners are probably still the most popular time when people make and eat Yorkshires, it seemed logical that British Yorkshire Pudding Day should be on a Sunday . . . . but which Sunday?
At the time of its inception, many Britons still follow the tradition of adhering to Lent,  a 40 day period of abstention from eating certain foods,  starting in February and ending at Easter. Although today those who observe Lent often just give up something they like, such as chocolate, traditionally the eating of rich foods was prohibited during this period, so people would make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to use up any eggs, milk and fats they may have. I felt that it was therefore only fitting that whilst attempting to celebrate and preserve one part of our heritage, the opportunity to join in shouldn’t exclude those who still celebrate and preserve another British tradition.  The first Sunday in February was therefore the natural choice, taking all of the above into account.
As intimated above, British Yorkshire Pudding Day is not meant to be some sort of serious nationalistic statement with  sinister undertones. It is merely a day set aside when everyone, be they British or not, can remember, enjoy and celebrate the joys of an age-old recipe. 2011 saw the launch of “Yorkshire Pudding Week”  by a British manufacturer of Yorkshire puddings. Whilst I encourage people to eat Yorkies as often as possible, don’t be sucked into this blatant rip-off on the back of British Yorkshire Pudding Day which has obviously been conjured up to increase their sales. Keep the faith: Keep British Yorkshire Pudding Day!

 Happy British Yorkshire Pudding Day !

Sunday Lunch in a Yorkshire Pudding

Back to my Yorkshire Pudding recipe. As the title says, this is my grandma’s traditional English Yorkshire pudding recipe and it is so easy.  The great thing about this recipe is that it works on equal measures of volume and therefore there is no weighing or measuring as such. So, if there are only two of you, use a very small cup – if there’s a crowd, use a big cup, jug or a mug!  Easy. One tip – ALWAYS make sure the oil/fat is SIZZLING hot before you pour in your batter; preheat your tins with the oil/fat before pouring in your batter……that’s about it really.  NOTE: I have suggested that the yield is between 8-16 individual Yorkshire puddings, depending on the size cup you use. A tip – 4 beaten eggs will make about 8 to 10 Yorkshires. That’s it for today, I will back back tomorrow, and the blog hop instructions for Slow Sunday are below, Karen.

Yorkshires

My Grandma’s Traditional Yorkshire Pudding

Print recipe
My Grandma’s Traditional Yorkshire Pudding
Serves 4
Prep time 1 hour
Cook time 20 minutes
Total time 1 hour, 20 minutes
Region British
By author Karen S Burns-Booth
The great thing about this recipe is that it works on equal measures of volume and so there is no weighing or measuring as such. So, if there are only two of you, use a very small cup - if there's a crowd, use a big cup, jug or a mug.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup beaten eggs
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup water
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 -2 tablespoon cooking oil or 1 -2 tablespoon drippings

Note

The great thing about this recipe is that it works on equal measures of volume and so there is no weighing or measuring as such. So, if there are only two of you, use a very small cup - if there's a crowd, use a big cup, jug or a mug.

Directions

Step 1 Preheat your oven to 240C,475F or gas mark 9. (If you are cooking roast beef and/or roast potatoes, make sure the beef has been removed to "rest" before carving and that the potatoes are moved down to the bottom shelf and NEED browning still).
Step 2 Pour a scant amount of oil or dripping into your Yorkshire Pudding tins.(A large roasting tin can be used too. If you do not have a Yorkshire Pudding tin which has 4 wide and shallow cups of about 4" in diameter, then use a large muffin tin). Put the tin into the pre-heated oven about 5 minutes before you want to cook the Yorkshire Puddings.
Step 3 Empty the flour, salt & pepper into a large roomy bowl. Make a dip in the centre and add the beaten eggs bit by bit, mixing as you go along. Add the water/milk mixture gradually and whisk in between each addition. Keep whisking until all the liquids have been added. The batter may still be lumpy - this does not matter. Cover and leave to rest for up to 1 hour.
Step 4 Just before cooking, whisk thoroughly again to break down any lumps & add some more air.
Carefully take out the tin/s. Pour the batter into the tin/s and QUICKLY return to the oven.
Cook for about 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown. DO NOT open the oven in the first 10-15 minutes or they will DROP! If you have two tins cooking, rotate the tins from top to bottom shelves after the 10-15 minutes so they cook evenly.
Step 5 Serve with Roast Beef and lashings of gravy!
Can also be served with any Roast Dinner - we love them with Roast Chicken.

BLOG HOP

1. If you make any comfort recipe on Sunday, please add your recipe/blog post link here. The recipe can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

2. This a Blog Hop, so you can see and share all of your comfort recipes/blog posts as well as discover other recipes and other blog posts too, it’s a great way of meeting new people and discovering new recipes!

3. To add your recipe to the blog hop, you need to link to me and add the Slow Sunday badge somewhere on your post page. To link to me, the URL: https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2012/02/british-yorkshire-pudding-day-slow-sunday-and-my-grandmas-traditional-yorkshire-pudding-recipe.html needs to be added in your post at least once, as a link.

4. You can enter as many times throughout the month; this Blog Hop will close on the 29th February and a new one will start on the next Saturday in March.

5. The Slow Sunday badge can be grabbed from my side-bar and you can also display the badge on your blog if you wish.

6. Have fun and don’t forget you can add and enter as many times as you want.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Ren Behan says

    Great pics! That looks like something you’d get in a top restaurant. Can’t believe you live so far away! How I’d love to pop over for your Grandmas’s Yorkshires and THAT gravy!!! x

    Reply

    • Karen says

      Thanks Ren! This is my favourite way to serve Sunday Dinner, in a Yorkshire Pudding! My recipe is my gran’s too, so it is a family treasure! Karen xx

      Reply

  3. Galina V says

    Your Sunday lunch looks like a work of art. I have never made a Yorkshire pudding in my life, and I can’t remember eating one either. Love your photos. Very pretty.

    Reply

  4. Janice (serialcrafter) says

    Wow, what a plateful. I love Yorkshires, but I think there is a problem with your recipe, you have the ingredients in there twice! Now that will make double the quantity but might confuse some folks. I’ll be round for my lunch at 1pm.

    Reply

  6. Hesper says

    Yum!
    I have always been curious about Yorkshire Puddings, but never have taken the plunge and made them…but your delicious pics might have given me the push I need:)

    Reply

  10. Marie says

    I have used my late Father in Law’s recipe for years and years. He was an Army cook and it never fails. We love our yorkshire puddings in this house! It wouldn’t be a roast dinner without them making an appearance!

    Reply

  12. Lauren says

    I love Yorkshire pudding, but I’ve never made individual servings before (I usually just make it in the roasting tin). They’re so adorable–I need to get over not wanting to wash a muffin tin and give them a try!

    Reply

  15. William says

    Hi Karen, nice blog. I was born in Yorkshire and my mum used to make great Yorkshire Puds. I have made them myself long ago as well. I live in Australia now and my partner is from Fiji, she has never had a Yorkshire Pudding so I am going to make her one today 20th May ( its a bit cooler autumn weather now) so it will go great with a stew I made a couple of days ago. February is too hot, so maybe we can nominate this day or the closest Sunday as the OZ Yorkshire Pudding Day and Mothers day was last weekend. So I will have a go, it took me a while to find a good recipie that resembled how my mother used to make them. After I excluded in my search the words Jamie Oliver, I found yours straight away. He is a bit over rated but a good hearted guy. He puts too many ingredients in. Keep it simple I say.
    I will post my Yorkshire Scone Recipe One day, I make them often, everybody loves them.
    Cheers,
    William

    Reply

    • Karen says

      G’Day William! Lovely to meet you through my blog and thanks for your lovely comments too. I hope that your partner likes the Yorkshire Puddings when they have been made…..DO let me know how it all goes, this is an authentic and very simple recipe and your menu of Yorkshire Puddings and stew sounds just great! I also Loook forward to your Yorkshire Scones Recipe, do you have a blog, or will you share the recipe here? Anyway, have a GREAT if belated Yorkshire Pudding Day! Karen

      Reply

  17. Hayley Wells says

    Wow! Those are beautys! A Sunday roast just isn’t complete without Yorkies! My mouth’s watering looking at those fabulous pics, I want to tuck in!

    Reply

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