Traditional Toad in the Hole Recipe - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why does my toad in the hole have a soggy bottom? ›

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.

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).

In its earliest incarnation it was simply referred to as 'meat boiled in a crust' (a strong contender for 'least appealing name for a dish', but then, so is 'toad-in-the-hole'); in Hannah Glasse's 1900 cookbook, there was a recipe for 'Pigeons in a hole' but, to be fair to her, at least actual pigeons were baked into ...

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.

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.

Eggs aren't all the same weight so if 200ml is still too thick, then add a bit more milk. If you end up with something that is more the consistency of water, just add a little flour to thicken it back up a little.

Resting the batter really does result in better-risen Yorkshire puddings with an airier texture (rather than chewy). About an hour is sufficient to allow the starch molecules to swell, giving a thicker consistency, and for the gluten to relax.

Keep Batter Cool and Oven Hot

A successful rise will come from the combination of a cold batter going into a very hot oven. The oven should be as hot as possible—the highest setting your oven can handle (450 F to 500 F) without burning everything to a crisp.

The best side dishes to serve with toad in the hole are onion gravy, mozzarella sticks, mashed potatoes, blooming onion, buttered peas, roasted root vegetables, steamed broccoli, cauliflower cheese, creamed corn, colcannon, horseradish sauce, and braised red cabbage.

What is a fun fact about toad in the hole? ›

Toad in the hole was originally created as a way to stretch out meat in poor households. Chefs therefore suggested using the cheapest meats in this dish. In 1747, for example, Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery listed a recipe for "pigeon in a hole", calling for pigeon rather than sausages.

Toad in the hole is a traditional British dish consisting of sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding batter and served with an onion gravy. Toad in the hole was among the dishes served at the Leaky Cauldron in London.

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.

In toads, these glands contain bufotoxin, which is a neurotoxin. When a toad is under duress it will secrete the milky bufotoxin from these glands and sometimes even shoot it out to try and get it in the predator's eyes or mouth.

Toads have toxic substances in the skin and parotid glands. ^1,3,4. Ingestion of toad or toad cake can lead to intoxication. Most toxic compounds of this venom are steroids similar to digoxin. Most patients have gastrointestinal symptoms consisting of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort.

Underfed, newly acquired amphibians that are kept in poor-quality water or other less-than-ideal environmental conditions are particularly susceptible. Signs include lethargy; extreme thinness; open sores that do not heal on the skin, nose, and toes; and the characteristic reddening of the legs and abdomen.

Good substrates are clean dirt, moss, bark, and some gravel. Make sure you pute about 3 inches of substrate on the bottom of the tank so that your toad can burrow. A good company to get dirt from is Eco-earth, they make dirt substrate for reptiles and amphibians.

A layer of mucus helps keep frogs moist and makes them feel slimy. On the other hand, toads have dry, thick skin. The thickened skin of their upper body helps them retain water so they can live in drier habitats. Toads usually absorb water through the thinner skin of their bellies.

To prevent your Yorkshire puddings from sinking, don't open the oven door before the end of cooking time. When you remove the tin from the oven, do not leave the puddings near any drafts. The most foolproof way to stop your puddings from sinking? Eat them straight away!