When Mandy and chef Ben Cox were invited to judge a Yorkshire Pudding contest for BBC1’s Countryfile, Yorkshire cook Mary Rook and presenter Ellie Harrison were pitched against Matt Baker and Jonathan Edwards of the Royal Society of Chemistry who had worked out the chemical formula for the perfect Yorkshire pudding.
Jonathan’s rose dramatically and Mandy said it tasted good too, but in the end the judges voted Mary Rook’s the winner, but it was a close call.
If you want the scientifically perfect Yorkshire pudding Jonathan has supplied this recipe.
This has been scaled up to nicely fit a 10″x 8″ tin.
Ingredients:
100 g polysaccharide powder, kitchen grade (flour)
1 g sodium chloride, NaCl, table grade (salt)
2 medium eggs
Solution of 100 cm3 reduced-lipid bovine lactate (milk)
50 cm3 H2O (water)
Method:
Put flour in a bowl, make a well in the middle, add the egg, stir until the two are combined then start gradually adding the milk and water combining as you go.
Add the liquid until the batter is a smooth and thin consistency.
Stir in half teaspoon of salt and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Put beef dripping into Yorkshire pudding tins or into one large tin but don’t use too much fat.
Put into hot oven until the fat starts to smoke.
Give the batter a final stir and pour into the tin or tins.
Place in hot oven until well risen – should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve.
Always serve as a separate course before the main meal and use the best gravy made from the juices of the roast joint. Yorkshire housewives served Yorkshire pudding before the meal so that they would eat less of the more expensive main course.
NB: When the batter is made it must not be placed in the fridge but be kept at room temperature.