One of the many wonders of cooking is how an unlikely looking puddle of batter made with just three ingredients – flour, an egg and milk – poured into sizzling hot fat and baked in a hot oven, can explode into that brown and crunchy high-rise English masterpiece called Yorkshire pudding. Where would the roast beef of Olde England be without it?

Although it’s called Yorkshire pudding, it’s been known all over Britain for centuries, starting life as Dripping Pudding. It was cooked under a spit-roasted joint so that it soaked up the drippings from the meat, and was not the inflated version we now know and love.

One of the earliest references to Yorkshire pudding was in Hannah Glasse’s book The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, which was published in the middle of the 18th century. Yorkshires are also referred to, rather uninspiringly, as batter pudding.

I have an ancient copy of Mrs Beeton’s All-About Cookery (Isabella Mary Beeton) which, judging by the illustrations and adverts, dates from about the 1930s. It has recipes for both savoury and sweet Yorkshire pudding, and baked and boiled batter puddings which were served with fruit or jam.

Yorkshire pudding was originally cooked in a large tin and often served as a first course with gravy, with the roast beef and vegetables being served afterwards. It was also probably used to fill you up first in order to eke out a smaller joint of meat, but I think that most cooks nowadays tend to cook Yorkshire pudding (or Yorkies) in muffin or patty tins and, like me, serve them with roast pork, lamb or chicken, as well as beef.

Batter isn’t used exclusively for Yorkies of course. It makes both sweet and savoury pancakes and the very chic French clafoutis, which is usually made with fresh cherries. Well, there aren’t any cherries about at the moment, but there are plenty of peaches, nectarines and plums that are a good alternative, and Jamie Oliver makes a clafoutis using tinned peaches.

With the Sunday lunch season about to start, it’s a very nice pudding to serve with cream or, better still, vanilla ice cream melting over it.

You can use the batter straight away, or you can leave it to stand for a while. My mother always used to leave it for at least half an hour, and then she whisked in a tablespoon of cold water. I never discovered why, but that’s the way I do it, too.

Yorkshire puddings

(Makes 12 Yorkies)

110g plain flour
½ tsp salt
1 large egg
250ml milk
Lard or sunflower oil

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the egg. Start to mix, either with a large metal spoon or a balloon whisk, drawing in the flour and gradually adding the milk. Beat it well until you have a smooth batter. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a jug, cover and leave it to stand for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250˚C and whisk a tablespoon of cold water into the batter. Put a small piece of lard or a teaspoon of sunflower oil into each hole of a 12-hole non-stick muffin or bun tin and heat in the oven until it’s shimmeringly hot and almost smoking.

Take the hot tin from the oven and quickly pour the batter evenly into each hole. Return to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the Yorkies have risen and are brown and crisp.

Serve immediately.

Peach clafoutis

(Serves 6)

4 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
Juice of half a small lemon
250ml milk
60ml cream
4 eggs
75g plain flour
110g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Generously butter a 23-centimetre shallow baking dish.

Toss the sliced peaches with the lemon juice, then arrange them in the dish.

Heat the milk and cream together until hot but not boiling.

Whisk the eggs, flour and sugar together until smooth and pour on the hot milk, whisking all the time, then stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour the batter evenly over the peaches, shaking the dish gently so that it seeps through evenly, then bake for about 40 minutes, or until the batter is set and the top is golden.

Leave the clafoutis to stand for a while as it’s easier to serve when it’s warm rather than hot, then serve cut into wedges with a scoop of ice cream melting on top, or with whipped cream.

Apple and cinnamon pancakes

(Serves 4)

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 tbsp sugar
Cinnamon
110g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 large egg
250ml milk
100g light soft brown sugar
100ml cream
30g butter
Olive oil
2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans

Put the apples into a pan, together with the sugar, two tablespoons of water and a large pinch of cinnamon. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook gently until the apples are very tender. Let them cool, then beat them to a slightly lumpy purée.

Sift the flour, salt and a pinch of cinnamon into a bowl, stir in the egg and gradually whisk in the milk until you have a smooth batter, then let it stand for 30 minutes. While the batter is resting, put the brown sugar, cream and butter into a pan and heat slowly until the sugar and butter melt, then bring to the boil and let it bubble for a few minutes until thickened.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan until very hot.

Stir a tablespoon of cold water into the batter, then make eight 20-centimetre pancakes, adding a spot of oil between each one and piling the pancakes on to a plate. Cover and keep warm. Warm the apple purée and spread a spoonful over half of each pancake, fold the other half over the apple, then roll it up like an ice cream cone.

Put two pancakes on to each plate, drizzle over a spoonful of the caramel, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Ham and ricotta pancakes

(Serves 4)

110g plain flour
Large pinch of salt
1 large egg
250ml milk
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500ml passata
Salt and pepper
Sugar
2 tbsp shredded basil
250g ricotta
8 slices smoked ham
60g grated mozzarella cheese

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre, stir in the egg and gradually add the milk, whisking until you have a smooth batter, then let it stand for 30 minutes. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan until it’s very hot. Whisk a tablespoon of cold water into the batter, and then make eight 20cm pancakes, adding a spot of oil between each one and stacking them on a plate. Cover with foil and set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and fry for a minute more, then put about half the onion into a bowl and set aside. Pour the passata on to the remaining onion in the pan, bring to the boil and let it bubble for a few minutes, then season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar and stir in one tablespoon of the basil.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C and butter a shallow baking dish. Add the ricotta to the bowl with the onion, season with salt and pepper, stir in the rest of the basil and mix it all together.

Lay out the pancakes, spread them with the ricotta and top each one with a slice of ham, then roll them up.

Put the pancakes into the dish in a single layer, pour over the passata and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

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