Mini Yorkshire Puddings for Babies and Toddlers

Yorkshire puddings (for those outside the UK) are normally served with Sunday lunch (traditionally beef joints) to make the meat go a bit further.  They're made from a simple egg, flour and milk batter cooked in oil or dripping.  Now that might not sound that tasty to the uninitiated but it's like saying a pancake is boring, of course it isn't and it's all about what you serve it with.  I like to serve mine with a good beef stew.  For a start it's way cheaper to make a beef stew than a joint of roast beef but also there's loads of lovely gravy for soaking up with the Yorkshires.  Think about it as the English version of the French obsession of wiping their plates with bread and I think you get the idea.  It's not about the flavour of the pudding itself, it's about what you mop up with it.

Now I'm not Northern.  I can do mighty tall Yorkshires and some people might look at these and think they're a bit disappointing but they are deliberately made toddler sized.  I used a small, shallow fairy cake tin.  You can use one big tin, muffin tins, cupcake tins etc. but all of them will be bigger and so require longer cooking times so keep that in mind.  Probably not the time for silicone bakeware, apart from the fact they are often only stable up to 230oC, the idea of hot fat in a wobbly 'tin' is the stuff of nightmares.

Two rules for Yorkshires:

1.  Get the pan really really hot

2.  Once you put the pan in the oven to cook, resist the urge to take a peak until near the end of the cooking time or they will collapse.

Mini Yorkshire Puddings for Babies and Toddlers - Makes about 10

Ingredients

65g Plain (all purpose) Flour
75ml Milk
1 Egg
Vegetable oil (or dripping if you prefer)

Method

Preheat the oven to 210oC (fan oven), 230oC (Conventional), 450F, Gas Mark 8.

Put a good tsp (approx) of oil into each hollow of the fairy cake tin.  Yes, this is a lot, I didn't say this was healthy in traditional terms but do bear in mind that the hotter it is, the less oil the batter absorbs, also most kids need energy.

Heat up the pan in the oven until it's really hot, I mean smoking hot.

While it's heating, make the batter.  Measure out the flour in one jug and in another, measure out the milk then whisk in the egg.  Whisk the milk / egg mix into the flour bit by bit.  Once it's all incorporated, add a bit more milk or water if you prefer.  The consistency should be a bit thinner than double (heavy) pouring cream.

You can allow the batter to stand for about 30 mins, put it in the fridge if it's any longer but you might need to add a little water if you do as it tends to thicken on standing.

Once the fat is really hot, pour in the batter.  Be very careful as the fat should bubble as the batter hits it.    If it doesn't bubble, then put the pan back in the oven (that one won't work but at least you won't have wasted the rest.)

Once you've poured batter into each hollow, bake for approx 12 minutes (11 in my oven, larger tins though will take longer) or until well risen and brown.  Serve when safe temperature wise to your kids. This would be great for baby led weaners or finger foods for traditional weaners.  I remember my son gumming away on a Yorkshire pudding when he was pretty small.  The great thing about making them yourself too is you can make them salt free and they tend to be a little softer than the commercial versions which can be pretty crunchy.

I've never tried freezing them but I've given it a go this time as I had a few left over to see whether it works because although it's a cheap recipe, you don't always want to be messing around with super heated fat with kids under your feet.  I'm intending to try and reheat from frozen and see what happens.  I will keep you posted.

UPDATE:  To reheat from frozen, put into an oven at around 180oC / 350F and heat for about 10 mins or until hot through (leave for longer if not fully heated).  They are a bit crispier but served with a stew or plenty of gravy, they were still a hit for the little one.

I've linked this up to Foodie Fridays with Diane Balch, here.