No Sunday Roast is complete without its trimmings. And of these the Yorkshire Pudding is, in my view, the most important. Whether you have beef, lamb, chicken or something completely different, the Yorkshire Pudding brings the meal together; Soaking up the gravy and mopping up the bits of meat and veg left over.

Traditionally Yorkshire Pudding was cooked by pouring batter into a large bakingtin, and cooked a roasting joint of meat (think bing old fashion spit roasting), inorder to catch the juices that drip down. A portion of the pudding was then served with the meal. In some cases the Yorkshire Pudding was eaten as aseparate course prior to the main meat dish. This custom could havearisen in poorer times, to provide a filling portion before the more expensive meat course, "Them that eat most pudding gets most meat" isthe most common saying.

Nowadays individual round puddings are more common and cooking is seperate from the meat (although you could cook the pudding in the same roasting tin as the meat - once the meat has been taken out to rest - and take advantage of all those great meat flavours).The batter used for Yorkshire Pudding can be used for Toad in the Hole (by adding sausages).

1. Place the flour and a little salt and freshly ground black pepperinto a bowl. Add the eggs, mixing in with a whisk, then gradually pourin the milk, mixing slowly to prevent lumps forming.
2. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill in the fridge overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. 
4.  Put a little of the dripping in four non-stick Yorkshire pudding tins. Place the tins in the oven until smoking hot.
5. Remove from the oven and quickly fill the moulds with the batter. Return to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes.
6. Turn the oven down to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and cook for a further 10 minutes to set the bottom of the puddings. 
7. Remove from the oven and serve.

The there are two key steps in this recipe: Resting the batter and a smoking hot tin. If you do not have time to rest the batter overnight try to at least give it a couple of hours. The hot dripping in the tin, will allow the batter to start dooking as soon as it hits the tin. This will ensure a nice crispy outside and keep the inside nice and fluffy.