Yorkshire puddings

Growing up in Australia, I never was faced with the opportunity to eat a Yorkshire pudding. I only heard about Yorkshire puddings when I first came to the UK in 1998. I was so confused. They are called puddings but you smother them with gravy?

Since transitioning to vegan-only eating in 1999, Yorkshire puddings haven’t even been an option for me as all the brands I see in supermarkets contain animal products. A few days ago, I asked Josh if he knew how to make a vegan version. He said no but he was willing to give it an attempt.

Below is the photographic proof of Josh’s attempt, plus the recipe he made up on the spot in case you want to try and recreate in your own kitchen. Warning: this recipe has only been used once so it could deliver different results depending on your equipment.

VEGAN YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Half a teaspoon of white pepper

Wet ingredients

• 250 mls of soy cream
• 2 heaped teaspoons of Vegg egg yolk replacer (not actually wet but it goes in with the wet ingredients)
• 1 cup of Almond or other plant-based milk
• Half a cup of vegetable oil
• One cup of water

Plus vegan margarine for greasing

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C and place your muffin tray in there to get really hot

2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients

3. In a medium bowl whisk all of the wet ingredients with a hand-held electric whisk until frothy and gooey

4. When the oven has reached the correct temperature, remove the muffin tray and put a knob of margarine (say half a teaspoon) in each hole. Put it back in the oven to ensure that the margarine melts.

5. While that is happening, pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Try to make sure there are no lumps.

6. Remove the hot muffin tray from the oven and scoop 1/3 cup of mixture into each hole.

7. Put back into the middle of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes until slightly risen and lightly browned on top.

If you want to have yorkies that are sunken in the middle (perfect for filling with gravy!) then about ten minutes into cooking, remove the tray and using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the tops of the puddings and put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

As you can see, we ate our Yorkshire puddings with roasted sprouts, steamed carrots, crunchy potatoes, gravy and toad in the hole. Toad in the hole is another UK specialty that can seem rather odd on first encounter. Josh used the leftover pudding batter for this strange sausage dish.

Let me know if you successfully replicate the puddings!

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