Recipe Description
Anyone who has ever lived in the UK would be familiar with this quintessentially British fare. It’s basically Yorkshire pudding baked with a sausage inside and was originally created to stretch out meat in poor households.
Despite its name, there is no toad in the pudding. It was so called because the cooked dish resembles a toad peeping out of its burrow, just like the sausages peeping through the batter.
Yorkshire pudding is traditionally eaten with roast beef, using the drippings from the roasting pan and served with onion gravy and vegetables. But if you add sausages or meat into the batter, it’s so tasty that you can eat it on its own.
I came up with the mushroom version because there are a few vegetarians in our family and I wanted to make a dish that they can also enjoy. It turned out tasting so amazing that it is now the one that I serve all the time. I call it toadstool in the hole.
The most important step in making the puffiest Yorkshire pudding is a super hot oven. The oven needs to be preheated to its highest temperature, 250-350°C depending on its make. Then the oil in the muffin tin needs to be heated in the oven until it reaches its smoking point. Be sure to place the tin on a baking tray to catch any oil spillage.
When the oven is up to temperature, open the oven door and carefully slide the tin and tray halfway out. Quickly fill each well with the batter and stuff with a sausage or a mushroom, making sure that it is submerged into the batter or it will float and fall out of its “hole”.
Then pop back into the oven and keep the door shut, resisting the temptation to open the door to check on how the Yorkies are rising. Allow the batter to bake at least 15 minutes so that it crisps up and holds its shape. If you prefer a crispier Yorkie, bake for an additional 5 minutes at 250°C and no more. I personally prefer the soft and fluffy inside so I take it out when it just turns crispy and golden on the outside.
You may eat it on its own, or serve it with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side dish of green beans or baked beans.
Recipe Ingredient
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cup whole milk
- 6 cocktail sausages
- 6 button mushrooms
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup cooking oil
Instructions
- Whisk eggs, milk, flour and salt in mixing bowl until well mixed. Strain batter with a wire sieve and put aside to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven at the highest temperature (250-350°C) for at least 10 minutes.
- Place a 12-well muffin tin on cookie tray and heat in oven for 5 minutes. When the oven is well heated up, carefully remove muffin tin on cookie tray and add a tablespoon of cooking oil into each muffin well. Pop the tin and cookie tray back into the oven for 5 minutes until the oil is smoking hot.
- Open the oven door and slide the cookie tray with the muffin tin out halfway.
- Quickly fill each muffin well with batter. Push a sausage into six of the wells and a mushroom into the other six wells, making sure that they are submerged in the batter.
- Immediately slide the tin back into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door, or the Yorkshire pudding will sink.
- After 15 minutes, the Yorkies will be golden and crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy inside. Remove from oven and serve immediately.