Celebrate National Yorkshire Pudding Day the Sourdough Way

This may be the luckiest Friday the 13th in a long time, because today is #YorkshirePuddingDay. And you guessed it, you can make your puddings with either Sourdough Starter or Discard.

Yorkshire Pudding (not a dessert) is a savory English dish similar to a popover, German pancake, or Dutch baby. It is a beloved British side dish, but also loved by Americans. And we love it so much, that we celebrate it twice a year: on the first Sunday in February in the UK, and on October 13 in the US and everywhere else.

It's no surprise that Yorkshire pudding has become a family favorite across the US. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and the whole buffet of traditional European foods made their way across America with pioneers and settlers. People cook what they know, and as with all times and places, the more money you had, the better you ate. Originally, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding would have been only for the middle classes and wealthy. 

The first recipe for Yorkshire Pudding was published in 1737 in Georgian collection entitled The Whole Duty of a Woman. Oddly enough this publication "guided a woman’s actions through the three possible stages of her life: The Duty of a Virgin, a Wife and a Widow.

But historically the dish was created by cooks in the north of England (Yorkshire) who devised a way to use the dripping fat from roasting meat. The batter it self is egg based with a very small amount of flour and is usually served with roast meat and gravy.

Here is a fun fact: The world's largest Yorkshire Pudding was made with an area of more that 500 square feet in June 1996 in, where else but, Skipton Round Table at Broughton Hall in Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK.

Yorkshire puddings are essentially pancake batter cooked in beef fat drippings or oil, which puffs them up into golden crispy goodness. Traditional Yorkshire puddings are made in one pan, but muffin tins are a great way to make individual portions to soak up all the great beef gravy.

To celebrate Yorkshire Pudding Day, you could make a batch of Yorkshire Puddings using your sourdough starter or discard. 

Sourdough Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (113g) active sourdough starter or discard
• 1 cup (120g) All-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup (227ml) milk
• 3/4 tsp (4.25g) salt
• 6 Tbsp butter or beef drippings for burshing the tin

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8. Place a 12-hole muffin tin in the oven to heat up.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter, flour, eggs, milk, and salt until smooth.
3. Pour the batter into a jug.
4. Carefully remove the muffin tin from the hot oven and add half a tablespoon of butter to each hole.
5. Place the muffin tin back in the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until the butter is very hot.
6. Carefully pour the batter into the muffin tin, filling each hole about 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the Yorkshire puddings are golden brown and puffed up.
8. Serve immediately with your favorite roast dinner.

Tips:

• For extra light and fluffy Yorkshire puddings, make sure the milk is at room temperature before using.
• Don't overmix the batter, a few lumps are fine.
• Make sure the muffin tin is very hot before adding the batter. This will help the Yorkshire puddings to rise.
• Don't open the oven door while the Yorkshire puddings are baking, or they will deflate.
• Serve the Yorkshire puddings immediately with your favorite roast smothered in gravy for dinner.

Enjoy!