Yorkshire Pudding, Florentine-Style

Photo by Faith Willinger

I dreamed of Yorkshire pudding--and the next day Mark Bittman wrote about Yorkshire pudding in the New York Times, substituting butter for beef drippings in the classic recipe. I was making Tuscan roast beef (on the stove-top) for lunch and decided to adapt Bittman's recipe to suit my Florentine husband, who feels that butter is a lipid for un-evolved palates. And besides, why melt butter when extra virgin is already liquid? I used soft wheat flour (no all-purpose in Italy) which makes for lighter baked goods. And I threw in a spoonful of fantastic cornmeal. My husband was very happy with the results.

I was speaking to Corby and told him about my recipe. He said it was perfect for the holidays and insisted that I write it up immediately. So here it is. Auguri!

Recipe: Florentine-shire Pudding

    • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 cup milk
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons soft wheat flour
    • 1 tablespoon cornmeal
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Put one teaspoon extra virgin in the cups of a 12 cup muffin tin.

Mix remaining tablespoon extra virgin and the rest of the ingredients together.

Heat the muffin tin for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, fill muffin cups halfway and bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from tin and serve immediately.

To try another take on Yorkshire pudding, click here for popover pancakes.