Why does my toad in the hole not rise

After trying almost every variety under the sun, those sausages should, I think, be pretty plain affairs — tasting mostly of pork rather than leek, apple or shudder chilli — anything too strident makes the batter seem unfairly bland by comparison. That said, the more mildly spiced British sausages, a herby Lincolnshire, or a peppery Cumberland, can also work well. My devotion to Nigel Slater prompts my one deviation from the sausage-only path; he wraps his sausages in pancetta, like posh pigs in blankets, before baking.

It's rare for me to veto cured pork, but here I'm not keen: the fat from the pancetta melts during cooking, so the sausages seem to stew in it rather than browning, and the whole thing tastes overwhelmingly of bacon. Nigella also does this, complaining that "I really don't like the way that the sausages, when this is prepared in the traditional manner, go a spooky braised pink as they cook within the batter". I'm also a bit squeamish about pallid bangers, but baked skinless sausages end up dry — much better to do as Smith, Dorothy Hartley, Paul Gayler and Jane Grigson do, and pre-cook the sausages before adding them to the batter.

Brown them well and there's no danger of flabby disappointment: frying, as Mrs Grigson suggests, works better than Smith and Gayler's baking — it's easier to turn them, they stay juicier and you can use the delicious sausage-flavoured cooking fat to grease the baking tin.

A good sausage is always a treat but tasty batter takes a little more work. I experiment with milk Grigson , milk and water Slater and Smith , milk and sparkling water Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham and milk and pale ale Gayler. The all-milk pudding is definitely richer, but also noticeably softer and doughier. Water gives a crisper result, and sparkling water, as the authors note, an even lighter batter — but the flavour isn't as good.

Using a mildly sparkling beer instead means the batter is both light and tasty, and handily leaves you with most of a bottle to enjoy while the toad cooks. I don't find Smith allows enough batter for the number of sausages: it's too thin and, although it does rise, it doesn't put on the spectacular display of Grigson or the Prawn Cocktail Years' puddings.

Nothing can match the batter from Hartley's Food in England though, which adapts a batter pudding recipe for toad in the hole, and whisks the egg whites to stiff peaks before folding them in.

This rises over the sausages, completely encasing them, and creating something more akin to a toad cake — unusual, certainly, but not quite what my testers were hoping for when I promised them toad in the hole.

More successful is the Prawn Cocktail Years batter, which is deemed to boast the perfect balance of crisp top and soft, slightly gooey interior. I suspect this is partly down to the prolonged beating of the eggs, which gives the batter real volume. Re: Toad in the hole not rising Post by Gannet » 19 Apr , You don't keep your eggs in the fridge do you?

The eggs in the fridge does not help, once the batter is made that can go into the fridge for a fair time, not sure why it is OK once they are mixed.

Also we use at least 3 eggs in a mix, if not more, 3 into 5 oz of flour is about right and relatively fresh eggs if you can.

If you open the door at all after pouring batter into hot oil it can deflate the Yorkshire too, you have to pour it in hot oil, then turn oven down to the required temp ish and leave the door shut until they are virtually done.

Eggs not kept in the fridge. I've ordered a new tin. Re: Toad in the hole not rising Post by Princess Morripov » 19 Apr , I thought of you the other day when I was making 85, yorkies for the homeless shelter, I can't think really what is going wrong for you, I'm really slap dash and they always rise like crazy eggs in fridge, don't weigh anything - just mix flour into eggs so it turns into a bit of a paste then add enough milk to make it into a batter.

They are my kitchen nemesis. Though that's not really how I make mine, method wise. I usually either whisk the eggs then alternately add flour and milk and whisk some more, or else I just add the whole lot in together and whisk it. Re: Toad in the hole not rising Post by baargain » 20 Apr , I used to use a feeble amount of eggs and they never rose. I follow this recipe, and now they're terrifying and beautiful. I made some on the weekend to have with our roast chicken and used 3 eggs to g flour, with about ml of milk.

They rose beautifully I also make them in mini muffin tins, partly because they suit small children, and partly because it's the only muffin tin I have that fits into the small hot oven - which is another point.

The oven really does need to be ferociously hot. Years ago I had a brilliant recipe but I've no idea where I got it from and nothing I've tried since has worked. Re: Toad in the hole not rising Post by smalex » 20 Apr , My mum is an excellent home cook and yorkshire puds are her nemesis too.

I don't think I've ever tried, I always defer to the frozen ones instead :copout:. Both about your mum and about you buying frozen I also made a good TITH once Squirrel, it was from my mum's hand written recipe, but she's lost it and now swears it's the Delia one which I've tried and it clearly wasn't that.

Though this is the sort of thing Delia really should know how to make. Thanks for the recipe Baa, that definitely has a lot more egg in it than I'm used to. It uses the same amount of flour as in the last recipe I tried well, 10g more , but has 6 eggs instead of 4, and ml of milk rather than Re: Toad in the hole not rising Post by bramblerose » 20 Apr , I would make the Yorkshires, cook your sausages separately then serve separately.

After the 20 minutes remove the sausages from the oven and quickly pour the batter into the dish. Return to the oven immediately Cook for a further 30 minutes see notes. Until cooked and the batter is brown and crisp on top. Serve with mashed potatoes, vegetables and gravy optional. Notes Don't chose a dish which would shatter easily with a heat change - you'll be pouring batter into hot oil and so i recommend a metal dish or a strong pyrex If you like your sausages very well done - cook them for longer at step 3.

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