Myria had talked about there being a pancake in her then-new cookbook that she wanted to try. I like pancakes, though I’m not crazy about them but sure, I thought, why not? Imagine my surprise when she placed in front of me a golden, puffed pastry that had more in common with a cream puff than with what I usually thought of as pancakes. And there was something familiar about it too…
She served it with butter and syrup, the way a regular pancake is served, and I realized it was similar to something a local restaurant chain serves. The restaurant refers to this as a German pancake and it is served with powdered sugar and lemon juice. It also does a version that is filled with hot apple/cinnamon compote. The minute I tasted it, I recognized another association. My mother used to make this - only she served it with roast beef and called it “Yorkshire Pudding”. On further reflection, I remembered that she also used to cook it in muffin tins once in a while, and serve the resulting popovers with butter and jam. They were heavenly!
But while my mother’s efforts were pretty good, Myria’s are perfection.
Ingredients and options
The recipe is simple:
German Pancake/Yorkshire Pudding
2 tbls butter or stick margarine*
1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
Set your oven to 400ºF and place the butter or margarine in a 9” pie pan (we have had super results with the disposable aluminum pie tins - which can be used two or three times if they’re handled carefully and cleaned well - but any non-teflon pie pan will do).
Place flour, salt, eggs and milk in a bowl and mix casually. I can’t stress this enough - if you over-mix this it will turn in to a sullen, leaden lump in your pie pan. Stir only enough to acquaint all the ingredients with each other.
Stages of Development
That last picture above is what the batter should look like after you’ve mixed things together. It should be lumpy with bits of egg still discernible. You don’t want a smooth batter - trust me on this :).
Put your pie pan (the one with the butter in it :) into the oven. You want to melt the butter and pre-heat the pan. When the butter is melted, remove the pie pan and swirl it gently so the sides get buttered too. Then pour your batter in and put it back in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the pancake is puffed (and it’s going to puff a lot) and golden brown.
*Don’t use the tub stuff here; there’s too much water in it. Your pancake will wind up soggy and will stick to the pan.
Pancake at 13 minutes and at 19 minutes
Remove to a plate (it should just slide out of the pan) and serve immediately.
So good….
The secret to its success is three-fold - but they’re all simple things.
1. Don’t overmix. Leave it lumpy and ugly - remember how the ugly duckling turned out!
2. Insure that the pan and the fat are good and hot when you pour in the batter - keep your oven mitts handy :)
3. No Peeking! Don’t open the oven door while this is baking or the cool air that rushes in will completely flatten your creation.
The beauty of this lovely, rich shell, is that it is neither sweet nor savory. So it can be filled with anything your heart desires and is infinitely adaptable for almost any meal. Myria takes a traditional approach, most often using powdered sugar and lemon juice on hers - sometimes with a little syrup. I, on the other hand, tend to go all over the board. Corned beef hash and a little cheese is excellent. Just plain butter and jam is also wonderful. Bacon and Welsh Rarebit is nearly orgasmic as are fresh strawberries and just a skosh of real maple syrup.
Oh, and while it won’t keep well for long, if you can’t finish your delectable repast, cover the plate with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Re-heat gently in the microwave and it won’t be too bad.
Bon Appetit!
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My mother would use the leftovers from the Yorkshire Pud mix to make pancackes for supper, fried up all crepe thin and crispy, served with lemon juice and sugar. No Sunday Roast was complete without the Yorkshires though!
Hi Ali :) Nope, If there’s going to be a roast, there’s got to be a Yorkshire Pudding; I was raised with the stuff and have always loved it.
now i am hungry and it is *hours* until dinner- i can just imagine the apple-cinnamon variation and listen to my tummy begging-
stay happy-
Oh dear - Sorry about that, barb. Make one of these for supper and your tummy will be thanking you for the rest of the night! Heheh…
I make these occassionally for the boys—they eat the puffed edges off and leave the center for me.
*sigh* I really hate it when I hit submit prematurely. Anyway, I melt about 2 TBSP butter, add about two teaspoons lemon juice and blend with enough powdered sugar (organic, of course!) to sweeten it while still being able to drizzle it over the pancake. The boys love it and I could just about live off it. Well, that and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, of course. 
By the way, have your tried cooking it with bits of fruit added into the batter? I used to frequent a restaurant out here that served a “German Apple Pancake”—same puff pancake, but somehow they managed to cook diced apples into it. Everytime I’ve tried it, I’ve ended up with a but lump of mildly revolting cooked batter that cements itself to the bottom of the pan.
Donna - They are awesome indeed and your sister makes the best I’ve ever had - has your fondness for the lemon/confectioner’s sugar thing too. Besides that, they’re economical as hell - eggs, flour and milk not costing squat :)
And I wouldn’t give up the PB&J either :)
Boy does that sound good….as if my belly is not rumbling enough…lol. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh, YUM! My mom makes the wee puddings, and serves with roast beef. I could never attempt such culinary art, but I love to read about it….
Maureen - You’re more than welcome! But you can’t blame me if you find that you can’t let more than a couple of days go by without getting cravings - okay?
Rachael - This isn’t art - this is just a little more applied science than a recipe usually calls for. Give it a try! Wouldn’t it be cool to tell your mother you made Yorkshire pudding?
I come from Yorkshire, so that pudding is my national dish!!! We beat the mixture very thoroughly though, until it is perfectly smooth, to incorporate as much air as possible.
Traditionally, it’s cooked in beef dripping, rather than butter, heated until it’s smoking hot before the batter is poured in. If you do that, it rises much higher and is lighter. If you don’t heat the fat enough, then the pudding tends not to rise and will be heavy.
In the days of range cookers, the pudding was placed directly under the joint, to allow the meat juices to drip into it.
The pudding is usually served before the main course, the idea being that it takes the edge off your appetite. That way, frugal housewives only need to cook a smaller joint of meat (“Them as eats most pudding gets most meat” is a popular lure to fool children into filling up on the cheap pudding). It is then served again with the main course and also as a dessert, with lemon and syrup (or jam).
Although it’s traditional to make the pudding in one large tin, you can also pour it into muffin tins, to make individual puddings.
If you want your pudding to rise even higher,and be even higher, add an extra egg white to your mix and replace half the milk with water.
It’s very nice cooked with fruit in it - morello cherries are very popular in England.
Wow - thanks for the information, Pam! My mother made it that way - with the drippings from the roast and sometimes did pour it into muffin tins rather than the large pan.
Frankly, I would probably rather have the pudding than the roast - well, just a bit of roast - but definitely LOTS of pudding!
The Morello cherry version sounds absolutely sinful and luscious
