'Mam' Gwladys, centre, with her children
“One of the things we British do best is a Sunday dinner. Mine have and always will focus around one thing – the Yorkshire pudding. I am from a really big family – my dad is number nine of 12 children. I have 30 cousins, a brother and a sister. So Sunday dinners at my nan’s were quite something. Dinner was in shifts, and as the littlest we always got to go first, which filled my heart with joy because it was a guarantee of one of Mam’s Yorkshires (which I am still sure are the best I’ve ever had).
So here, aged six, the obsession started. I have tried every Yorkshire recipe that’s going but I like my Yorkshires to have a bit of stodge – crispy and light on the outside, doughy chewiness on the inside. I have added some toasted seeds here for texture and flavour, which lifts this from an add-on to the main event.
There are five commandments of Yorkshire puddings. Don’t be scared of heat: preheat your oven to maximum. Try to rest your batter for at least 15 minutes. It’s key. Be sure to preheat your oil in the oven until smoking hot. Make sure you heat the tray on the hob while pouring in your batter. Don’t open the door until the cooking time is up or the Yorkshires will deflate. Finally, rapeseed oil works well here – it’s a brilliant British oil whose vivid saffron hue paints the outside of the Yorkshires. Sunday heaven.”
Chef Anna Jones, UK
Makes 12 towering Yorkshires
Ingredients
200g plain white flour
2 tbsp toasted poppy seeds
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp sea salt
pinch cracked black pepper
250ml milk, topped up to 300ml with water
4 organic or free-range eggs
12 tsp rapeseed oil or groundnut oil
Method
First preheat your oven to as hot as it will go. Next, mix the flour, toasted seeds, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour your milk-water mix into a jug.
Crack the eggs into the bowl of flour, pour in a little of the milk mixture, and beat well until you have got rid of most of the lumps. Continue to beat in the rest of the milk mixture bit by bit, until you have a smooth batter about the consistency of double cream. Now leave your batter to rest for at least 15 minutes.
Once your batter is ready, pour it into a jug. Put about 1 tablespoon of oil into each of the little dips in a 12-hole muffin tin and pop it into the oven for a couple of minutes, until the fat is smoking.
Now turn two of the rings on your hob to medium and put the jug of batter next to the hob. Very carefully but quickly, take the hot muffin tin out of the oven and shut the door. Put the muffin tray on the heat and quickly but carefully pour the batter into each hole until it is about 2cm from the top.
Put the tray back into the oven, shut the door and set the timer for 12 minutes. Do not be tempted to open the door too soon – they WILL fall and fail. Check through the oven glass at 12 minutes and if they are risen like little towers and nicely golden, take them out. If not, leave them in without opening the oven for another few minutes, keeping an eye on them.