Recipes for Yorkshire puddings can be hard to master as you don’t always get tall and fluffy results from every recipe.

Luckily, James Martin has dished out his secrets to creating the perfect Yorkshire puddings, perfect for Christmas Day.

Describing them as light and fluffy as souffles, he explains that Yorkshire puddings are crafted from a simple batter of eggs, milk, and flour, which should be whisked together and left to rest.

For his “legendary” Yorkshires, James insists on using top-notch ingredients, stressing that only full-fat milk will do for that rich, indulgent taste.

He also advises home cooks to give their Yorkshires undivided oven attention, saying: “When you cook the Yorkshires ensure they are the only thing in the oven as the temperature needs to be hot to cook them properly.”

Ingredients

200g flour

Eight eggs

One pint of milk, full-fat

Eight teaspoons dripping, duck fat or goose fat

Method

Start things off by preheating your oven to 220 degrees. Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl, then let the mixture chill out in the fridge overnight to guarantee a fantastic rise.

While you can bake them straight away, resting assures they’ll puff up to their full potential.

When it’s showtime, get the dripping sizzling in pudding moulds before adding in the batter. For perfect Yorkshires, ladle your batter into the trays or simply pour it in from a jug. Let them bake for half an hour.

After those 30 minutes are up, quickly open your oven door briefly just enough to let any steam built up inside escape.

Then drop down your temperature to 200C for another five to ten minutes. Your goal? Achieve that “crisp and golden” perfection.

James isn't just about those classic Yorkshire puds as he’s got a gravy recipe up his sleeve too, promising to be quick and utterly divine alongside them.

Ingredients for gravy

Three onions, peeled and sliced

25g butter

100ml Madeira

25ml sherry

500ml veal jus

50ml red wine

Method

Getting this gravy right is all about the caramelised charm. Start your culinary adventure by melting that butter in a pan. A low flame is key, and patience will get those onions caramelised to perfection.

Once you’ve mastered the onions, take your concoction of Madeira, sherry and stock to its boiling point.

You’re aiming to reduce it down by half before it’s ready to grace your Yorkshire puddings.