Toad-in-the-hole, onion and apple gravy | Pork recipes | Jamie Oliver (2024)

FAQs

Why didn't my Toad in the Hole rise? ›

Getting your Yorkshires to rise:

Toad in the Hole needs a hot dish with plenty of oil. Using a metal baking tin and adding the batter quickly is recommended. Also, the dish needs to be large enough so that the batter can creep around the edges (at least 30cm x 25cm ideally).

There are a few things that will make your batter soggy and stop it from rising nicely. You need to make sure your batter is a good consistency – not too thick and not too thin. This recipe seems to work nicely for us. If your batter still isn't rising well it could be that you haven't used enough oil.

If you want something different, many other vegetables can be served with Toad in the Hole. Some good options include carrots, green beans, cabbage, broccoli, or roasted root vegetables like parsnips and turnips.

FREEZE AHEAD: Once cool, put the toad-in-the-holes on a lined baking tray and freeze for 4 hours. Pack in freezer bags and freeze for up to one month. Reheat from frozen on a baking tray covered loosely with foil, in a preheated oven at 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6, for 15-20 mins or until piping hot throughout.

Our answer. The batter in a toad in the hole should rise up but will be airy and crisp rather than spongy or cakey. The flour should be plain (all-purpose) flour and not self-raising. However it is most likely that the batter isn't quite cooking properly due to the dish.

Ideally rest the batter for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. The batter doesn't need to be chilled. Should Yorkshire pudding batter be thick or runny? The batter should be about as thick as double cream (so easily pourable but with some body).

Whisk the eggs slowly into the flour. Once combined, pour in the milk while you whisk so that you have a smooth, lump-free batter the consistency of double cream (if the batter is too thick then add a little water).

Line the baking dish with parchment paper. Forget the oil. Add some of the sausage drippings to the batter for flavor and then grease the baking dish with shortening. When you add the batter to the baking dish, the shortening will not be displaced by the batter and help prevent the sticking.

The oven should be hot – we're talking 220C/200C Fan/Gas 6. Preheating your pan and oil (as well as your oven) ensures that steam will form as soon as the batter goes into it, causing it to puff up and get that glorious rise. On a practical level, it also means that the batter is far less likely to stick to the pan.

Elevate your toad-in-the-hole experience with golden brown sausages in a bed of luscious, melting mustardy cheddar cheese, with tender broccoli florets peeking out from between. It's accompanied by a side of steamed greens and topped with a generous ladle of our rich homemade gravy.

What do you drink with toad in the hole? ›

Sweet, ripe cabernet and cab-shiraz blends would be ideal, as would quaffable Chilean merlot or carmenère, for example.

Use a metal (or enamel-coated metal) baking tin if possible – a large, reasonably deep dish is best. Using a metal tin means the tin it will get hotter and the heat distribution will be more even. Mine is a rectangular enamel roaster, approx 31cmx25cm and 5cm deep.

How long can you keep Toad in the Hole in the fridge? Once you've put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours. If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Toad in the Hole in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Once removed from the oven, the toad in the hole will sink slightly due to the temperate change – I just recommend you check it is cooked and crispy on top throughout to know it is ready.

It is certainly not one of the most healthy dishes, but thanks to a few practice runs and trial and error, I have perfected what I believe to be the best, slimming friendly version of a toad in the hole. The calorie count will vary depending on the sausages you use, so make sure you double check.

You are probably over-mixing the cake batter. An over-mixed batter overworks the gluten in the flour, resulting in weaker gluten structures. This makes your cake flat and destroys its fluffy texture. Fold your dry ingredients into the wet ones lightly with a spatula and do not stir too hard.

The fat isn't hot enough (it should be smoking hot). The oven isn't getting hot enough (needs to maintain a 220C/425F temperature). Your oven loses heat too quickly when you open the oven door and/or you leave the oven door open for too long whilst you're filling up the Yorkshire pudding tins with batter.

If your kitchen as well as the counter where you work the mixture is cool, the batter will chill off additionally (regardless of whether you utilized warm water to make it). Assuming that your batter is kept at around 80°F, it ought to require somewhere in the range of 1 and 1½ hours to rise twofold in volume.