Anne Morgan Delia Smith has two Yorkshire pudding recipes and one piece of advice for scaling them up. The recipe for 4 uses a frying pan, the recipe for 6 uses an oblong tin, and for anything bigger she says to double whichever one fits your tins. That is it. Same batter, same method, same three rules every time.
I have made all four sizes below and the batter ratio never changes: plain flour, eggs, semi-skimmed milk mixed with water, and beef dripping heated until it smokes. The water is the part most people miss. It turns to steam faster than milk, which is what forces the pudding upwards and gives it that crispy, hollow shell.
1. Yorkshire Pudding for 4
One egg, 75g plain flour, and a small frying pan. This is where I started and where I finally understood why my Yorkshire puddings had been failing for years. I was using self-raising flour. Delia’s three rules fixed everything: hot oven, flameproof tin, plain flour only.
Serves 4, prep 10 minutes, cook 30 minutes, 220 kcal per serving. The frying pan goes on the hob while you pour, which keeps the dripping smoking hot. That thermal shock is the whole secret.
2. Yorkshire Pudding for 6
Two eggs, 175g flour, and a 20cm by 26cm oblong tin instead of the frying pan. You get one big slab that you cut at the table, which I prefer to fiddling with individual holes in a muffin tray. The oblong tin gives the pudding more depth so it rises taller with a softer centre.
Serves 6, prep 10 minutes, cook 30 minutes, 250 kcal per serving. This is my standard Sunday roast version when the family comes over. Same batter ratio as the for-4, just scaled up with a bigger tin.
3. Yorkshire Pudding for 8
Delia writes in the Complete Cookery Course that she doubles the for-4 recipe and uses two tins for larger numbers. That is exactly what this is: two frying pans side by side on the top shelf. The batter depth stays the same so the timing does not change.
Serves 8, prep 10 minutes, cook 30 minutes, 220 kcal per serving. I make this when both sets of parents visit and six is not quite enough. Two pans, one pour each, nothing else changes.
4. Yorkshire Pudding for 12
The for-6 recipe doubled into two oblong tins. This is the Christmas dinner version. 350g flour, 4 eggs, two tins on the top shelf. The timing works perfectly with a roast: the puddings go in the moment the meat comes out to rest, and they are ready 25 minutes later when the carving is done.
Serves 12, prep 10 minutes, cook 30 minutes, 240 kcal per serving. I have never needed to make more than this. If you are feeding 16 or 20, make two batches rather than trying to fit four tins in one oven.
