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Yorkshire Pudding

A baked batter of milk, eggs, flour, salt, and dripping, cooked until risen and browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Yorkshire Pudding

Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Yorkshire Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine the flour and salt, making a well in the center.

  2. Break in the eggs and gradually stir in the flour from the sides.

  3. Add the milk slowly until a thick, smooth batter forms.

  4. Beat the batter well for 10 minutes, then add the remaining milk.

  5. Cover and let the batter rest for at least 1 hour.

Bake and serve

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a thin layer of dripping in a pudding tin.

  2. Once the tin and dripping are hot, beat the batter again.

  3. Bake for 10 minutes to partially cook the bottom, then continue cooking until set and browned, about 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + meattop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,703 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Egg + meattop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Provide structure as they set, helping the batter bake up firm and hollow.
Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the batter body and lets it rise.
Milk
Hydrates the flour and adds moisture, so the steam helps the pudding puff.
Dripping
Sears the batter on contact, promoting rapid rising and a crisp, browned edge.

The step that matters

Heat the tin and dripping until very hot before adding the batter. The batter must hit a smoking-hot fat so its outside sets instantly and steam lifts it. A cool tin makes the pudding flat and greasy.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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