Equipment
Ingredients
Batter
- 140 g plain flour
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 200 ml whole milk, room temperature
- 3 g salt
Sausages and Fat
- 8 pork sausages
- 30 g beef dripping
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 641 kcal
- Protein
- 31 g
- Carbohydrates
- 31 g
- Fat
- 43 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Sodium
- 1249 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 14 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 14 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 7 g
- Cholesterol
- 282 mg
- Potassium
- 536 mg
- Calcium
- 99 mg
- Iron
- 2.6 mg
- Magnesium
- 36 mg
- Phosphorus
- 337 mg
- Zinc
- 3.7 mg
- Vitamin A
- 133 mcg
- Vitamin D
- 3.1 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 1.5 mg
- Vitamin K
- 0 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.3 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 1.7 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.37 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.52 mg
- Niacin
- 7.0 mg
- Folate
- 36 mcg
- Water
- 139 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and plain flour together until completely smooth. Gradually whisk in the whole milk and salt until the batter resembles the consistency of single cream.
Leave the batter to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This allows the starch to hydrate and the gluten to relax, ensuring a lighter and taller pudding.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (430 degrees Fahrenheit). Place the beef dripping or vegetable oil into a metal roasting tin and put it in the oven to heat up.
Carefully remove the hot roasting tin from the oven. Add the pork sausages and return to the oven for 10 minutes, allowing the sausages to brown slightly and the fat to become smoking hot.
Working quickly, carefully remove the roasting tin from the oven. Pour the rested batter around the sausages; the hot fat must sizzle violently as the batter hits it. Immediately return the tin to the upper-middle shelf of the oven.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius (430 degrees Fahrenheit) until the batter is deeply golden, puffed up, and crisp. Crucially, do not open the oven door during the baking process, or the batter will instantly collapse.
Chef's Notes
- Always use a metal roasting tin rather than glass or ceramic. Metal conducts heat much faster, which is essential to create the immediate blast of heat required to puff the batter.
- Resting the batter is not optional. Giving the flour time to absorb the liquid leads to a significantly taller, airier structure with better flavor development.
- Toad in the Hole demands a very hot oven and a high smoke-point fat. Beef dripping provides the most traditional flavor and crispness, but standard vegetable or sunflower oil works perfectly. Avoid olive oil or butter, as they will burn at 220C.
- For the ultimate British comfort meal, this dish must be served generously ladled with a rich, dark onion gravy and a side of buttery peas or cabbage.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Will lose crispness in the fridge. Best reheated in a hot oven.
Freezer: 1 month — Freeze fully baked. Reheat from frozen in a 180C oven.
Reheating: Reheat in a 180C (350F) oven for 10-15 minutes until warmed through and re-crisped.
Troubleshooting
The Yorkshire pudding batter is flat and dense
Cause: The fat in the roasting tin was not hot enough when the batter was poured, or the oven door was opened during baking.
Fix: Cannot be fixed
Prevention: Ensure the fat is visibly smoking hot before pouring in the batter, work quickly so the pan does not lose heat, and absolutely never open the oven door for the first 25 minutes of baking.
Batter stuck severely to the pan
Cause: Insufficient fat used, or pan was not hot enough to instantly set the bottom layer of the batter.
Fix: Use a flexible metal spatula to scrape underneath the pudding immediately upon removing from the oven.
Prevention: Use a generous amount of high smoke-point fat and ensure the tin is heated empty first.
Cultural Context
Toad in the Hole originated in the UK during the 18th century as a clever culinary method to stretch a small amount of expensive meat into a filling family meal using cheap, bulky batter. The whimsical name is widely believed to refer to the way the sausages peer out from the undulating, cratered surface of the baked Yorkshire pudding batter, resembling toads waiting for prey in their burrows.
