The batter for Hairy Bikers toad in the hole has rubbed dried sage in it and needs to stand for an hour before it goes anywhere near the oven. It uses eight pork sausages, a large onion and 150g of flour, comes from Meat Feasts and serves four.
The batter is Dave’s mum’s Yorkshire pudding recipe, which they still reckon is the best ever. Their own additions are the sage and the onions piled in with the sausages.
The oven changes temperature halfway. Sausages and onions cook at 180°C for half an hour, then it goes up to 200°C when the batter goes in, which is what makes it rise.
Hairy Bikers Toad in the Hole
Description
The onions are simmered in salted water for three minutes and drained before they go anywhere near the tin. Lard or goose fat is heated until it smokes, and the sausages get a ten minute head start. Everything is well spaced out before the batter is poured around it.
Ingredients
For the toad
For the batter
Instructions
- Make the batter first: Put the flour in a bowl, whisk lightly to get rid of any lumps, then add the salt and rubbed sage. Make a well in the middle, add the eggs and work them into the flour, then gradually add the milk. A food processor does the same job in seconds.
- Rest it: Leave the batter to stand for an hour.
- Heat the fat: Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Put the lard or goose fat into a rectangular roasting tin about 30cm by 20cm and heat until it is smoking.
- Start the sausages: Add the sausages and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Boil the onion: Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and the sliced onion, simmer for 3 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
- Add the onions: Spread the onions evenly around the tin and turn the sausages. Put back in the oven for another 20 minutes, stirring regularly so the onions cook evenly.
- Add the batter: Turn the oven up to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Pour the batter around the sausages and onions, making sure everything is well spaced out.
- Bake: Bake for another 30 minutes, until the batter has risen and is a dark golden brown on top. Serve at once.
FAQs
Why boil the onions first?
Because raw onion needs longer than the batter can give it. Three minutes in salted water softens the slices so they finish properly in the twenty minutes they spend with the sausages.
Drain them thoroughly, which the recipe stresses. Wet onions going into smoking hot fat will spit, and any water left behind will slacken the batter where it touches.
Does the batter really need an hour?
Yes, and it is the step people skip. Resting lets the flour absorb the liquid properly, so the batter thickens slightly and rises better in the oven.
Make it before you do anything else and it will be ready by the time the sausages have had their thirty minutes. There is no way to hurry it.
Why does the oven temperature go up?
Because sausages and batter want different things. Thirty minutes at 180°C cooks the sausages and onions through without burning them, and 200°C is what makes the batter climb the sides of the tin.
Putting cold batter into a cooler oven is the usual reason toad in the hole comes out flat. The fat should still be very hot when the batter hits it.
Is this the Mums Know Best version?
Not quite, though the connection is real. This one is from Meat Feasts, but the batter is Dave’s mum’s Yorkshire pudding recipe, which is why people remember it as a mum’s recipe.
If you want individual ones, their mini toad in the holes are in British Classics, made in a muffin tin rather than a roasting tin. The batter behaves the same way but cooks faster in smaller portions.
Can I make it for two?
Halve everything and use a tin about half the size, roughly 20cm by 15cm. The batter depth matters more than the quantity, so a smaller tin keeps it from spreading thin and staying flat.
Timings stay the same. Four sausages still need their thirty minutes before the batter goes in, and the batter still needs its hour standing beforehand.
What do I serve with it?
Onion gravy is traditional, and something sharp cuts through eight sausages in batter. Their red cabbage is braised with vinegar and apple, which does exactly that job.
Buy the best sausages you can find, which they say plainly. Their sausage casserole makes the same point, and their sausage and bean casserole is the other one-tin sausage dish if you fancy a change. For more of the same comfort, their meatloaf with gravy is the other British loaf on the site.
