If I were ruler of my own land, and Queen of this land where I could make royal decrees and commandments, I'd like to firmly instill in Son and Daughters, their understanding of a few simple commandments.
1. Whenever mommy (aka Your Highness) asks you to do something, you immediately say YES, jump up and execute whatever command is being made.
2. Always wash your hands after the bathroom. (this is really Son's commandment.)
3. Exercise excellent manners, where ever you go, for failure to do so reflects poorly on mommy (aka Her Highness.)
Alas, getting them to follow those few simple rules has been nothing short of impossible, especially in recent weeks. Nonetheless, I like to imagine a world where they can follow those rules and follow them they do.
It's easier, I think to write, commandments about popovers, and have THEM followed, than have Son and Daughters follow the ones listed above. I'd like you to imagine yourself in the Land of Popovers, where I am the Queen, and I have given you the following commandments when making popovers.
Popover Commandments
1. ALWAYS work with room temperature eggs and milk. This means take your ice cold milk and eggs out of the fridge and leave them at room temperature for at least 1 hour before you actually make popovers.
2. PREHEAT your oven so that it is REALLY at the right temperature and PREHEAT your popover (or muffin) pan.
3. NEVER EVER peek inside the oven.
Popovers use very simple ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, flour, eggs) but it's following the RULES that changes how they come out. In the past two days, I've actually made 5 different batches of popovers, breaking and bending rules as they come to see how things work out. Don't bend the rules. You'll end up with bad popovers. FOLLOW my popover commandments, and you WILL get fabulous fabulous fabulous popovers. Making Popovers requires Preparation, Precision, and Patience. Think a bit ahead (get those ingredients room temperature) and you're well on your way to total deliciousness.
Popovers (adapted from Williams-Sonoma’s recipe)
Makes 6 popovers (easily doubled to make 12)
Ingredients
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 cup of flour
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, optional (you can sprinkle on top of popover batter before sticking them in the oven.)
oil spray for greasing pans
Method
Preheat oven to 450. You really want to make sure that the oven is good and hot, so even after it says it is 450, give it another minute or two.
While oven is preheating, in a medium bowl, whisk eggs (room temperature.) Add milk (room temperature) and melted butter. Whisk again. Add salt and flour, and whisk, using a bit of arm muscle to really get the batter smooth and uniform. It might take about 2 minutes of hand whisking to get the batter really smooth. Batter will be pale yellow and quite runny. Set batter aside until oven and pan are ready.
Once oven is preheated, place empty popover pan into the oven for exactly 2 minutes. DO NOT place popover pan in oven before the oven is ready, as you will not get the pan up to temperature. Once popover pan is preheated, carefully remove from oven, and spray oil in all the cups. Then fill cups with batter, about ¾ of the way full.
Place pan carefully into the hot oven. Once the door closes, DO NOT OPEN IT until the time is finished. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes, reduce heat to 325, and bake for an additional 15 minutes more. DO NOT OPEN IT UNTIL TIME IS UP!!
Remove from oven, turn popovers out onto a cooling rack. IF desired, stab sides of popover with a knife to release excess steam. (some people like the moist inside and others do not. You decide.) Enjoy with butter or your favorite preserves.
Printable recipe
the popover pan I have (Amazon has them cheaper than most places, and if you have other friends who want it, you can take advantage of their 4 for 3 offer - which allows you to buy 4 items for the price of three.)
Definitely recommend that you whisk your popover batter with one of these guys
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3 comments:
Joanne!
I made these tonight using your recipe. It tastes great but it's not fluffy inside...it's really dense...what did I do wrong?!
trying to understand your description. A true popover is mostly crust and not a lot of inside at all. You want it to be almost hollow inside. SO if you're describing a dense texture, I'm reading that your popovers didn't po at all? Or does dense mean that it was so dry that there wasn't any fluffy inside (which is what you want) but you like the fluffy inside?
Thanks, Joanne!
No, it didn't pop at all...It was almost like a regular mini-muffin...Not hollow at all. Does it matter what kind of flour I use? I used bleached..I followed your directions carefully, even bought the same pan on amazon!
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