Do you put gravy in your yorkshire puddings?

 

However they are proper bloody handsome as a sweet pudding with sugar or jam (US: jelly).

 

Making them appears at first sight to be easy, but it is an art, with a special "trick" to make them come out right. The batter is essentially a thin pancake batter - flour, egg and water+milk (50:50 or more milk than water if you prefer) whizzed up with a whisk and left to stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking. They are cooked for 15 minutes in a hot oven, (and here comes the trick), but first the pan they are cooked in (a shallow bun tin like those used to make jam tarts) has to be primed with lard or dripping and placed on a hotplate so it just starts to smoke, then a table spoonful of the batter (and maybe a half spoonful more if necessary) is added to each hollow so that it starts to bubble and "frill" around the edge. Once filled, the tin is placed in the oven and left to cook. Like cooking soufflés It is important that door is not slammed or opened during cooking or they will flop. Properly cooked they should be between 3 and 4 inches high and hollow in the middle (to take the gravy).