Grandma Abson knew a thing or two!

An early networker, Grandma Abson knew there was much baking expertise out there to learn from, so right from her early days in service in the 1900s to the 1970s, she was an avid collector of recipes and in this case a Yorkshire recipe.

In addition to her own collection, over her long life of baking she took delight in garnering favourites, all written on scraps of paper, from family and friends, including classics such as Victoria sponge, fruit scones, shortbread, apple pie and Bakewell pudding, her own signature cakes and puddings, paradise cake, Bridlington cake and railway pudding, and her own jams and chutneys.

So when Chris Blackburn, our award winning Yorkshire Pudding guru, invited me to guest blog, I jumped at the chance to share something from Grandma’s repertoire. I discovered Chris hadn’t heard of the Yorkshire recipe, the Yorkshire Drop.  This recipe is, of course, based on Yorkshire pudding batter but served up as a dessert with a fruit filling instead of the more usual savoury dish.

Just as Grandma always made full use of seasonal food, you can vary the fruit to ‘drop’ in according to the season : Rhubarb, plums, raspberries, blackberries and cherries are all perfect for this dish. It’s a close relative of the mouthwatering French clafoutis too.

Classic Yorkshire recipe – Yorkshire Drop

Ingredients

  • 4 ½oz/125g plain flour (sieved)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ½oz/40g sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/3 rd pint/200ml milk
  • Fruit as in season

Method

  1. For Rhubarb, wash and cut into chunks about 2-3 cms/ 1-1 ½ inches long. Lay on a baking tray and sprinkle Demerara sugar over the chunks.
  2. Cook in the oven (325F, Mark 3, 160C) for about 10-15 minutes until tender but still in whole pieces. This way the Rhubarb retains its maximum flavour.
  3. Wash and dry other fruit carefully. Slice fruit such as plums.
  4. Make the batter as for Yorkshire Pudding. Mix the eggs and flour with a wooden spoon. Mix in the sugar, salt and milk and beat to the consistency of cream.
  5. Let it stand for about half an hour or so and stir occasionally to let the air in.
  6. Butter an ovenproof dish and pour in the Yorkshire Pudding batter mixture.
  7. ‘Drop’ in the fruit into the mixture and cook in a preheated moderately hot (Grandma called this temperature ‘quick’) oven for about 45 minutes (Mark 5, 190C, 375F). The batter will rise to perfection. See for yourself!

You can read more about Grandma’s life, her passion for baking and over 200 traditional baking recipes (including some Yorkshire recipes) in her book and ebook www.grandmaabson.com