Simple Popover Recipe

If you're looking for low effort dish with minimal ingredients list then this is one solid one for you. The perfect imperfection that is popover.

It wouldn't surprise you to know it got its name from how it mushrooms and puffs up way past the rim of its baking tin/pan. Simplicity is really the best 👌

This is quite similar to the Yorkshire pudding, the only difference being that popovers use melted butter in the recipe as opposed to rendered beef fat that the Yorkshire pudding uses. 

Now that that's out of the way, let's get into it shall we? 

INGREDIENTS 

4 large eggs at room temperature 

1 & half cups of milk 

1 & half cups of all purpose flour 

Half teaspoon of salt 

3 tablespoons of melted butter (cooled slightly) 

Butter for greasing the cavities of the popover tins.

PROCEDURE 

1) Before you do anything get the pans or tins you'll be using ready by washing and wiping them dry then add a teaspoon of butter in each cavity. Set that aside.

2) Preheat your oven to 220°c. You want by the time you are done making your batter the oven should be very hot all over. The high heat is what will help the popovers rise rapidly and get the signature hollow middle we want.

3) This step you can either do by hand using a whisk or use a blender/liquidiser. If you are doing it by hand, first break your eggs and whisk them in a large enough bowl, then add the milk, flour and salt. Whisk again to combine fully, we don't want any lumps. Don't be afraid of overmixing, this is not a cake where we are afraid of developing too much gluten and getting a tough end product. We need a smooth thin batter. After you've mixed all that then you add the melted butter and mix it to combine. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.

If you are using a blender just get all your ingredients in the cup, cover and whizz it well to combine. In less than one minute you'll have your batter done. No lumps, no sweat.

4) By now the oven must have gotten hot even if it's not yet to the 220 mark. Pick up your prepared tins or pan with the butter in it and place in the oven for a minute to melt the butter. After it melts quickly pull out the pan/tins and place them on your workspace. Make sure to close your oven door well to get the temperature going up.

5) Using the mouth of your blender cup or a ladle if you mixed your batter in a bowl, fill the cavities of your tins halfway through.

If you're using a common 12cavity muffin tin this batter will make roughly 16 popovers. If using a 6 cavity muffin pan you should get 8 large popovers from this recipe.

6) By now the oven is at the right temperature. Get your batter filled pan and place it on the middle rack of your oven, making sure to work quickly as we don't want the temperature to drop. Close the oven door and do not open it for whatever reason for the next 45 minutes.

7) After the 45 minutes is up open the oven door and check on your popovers, they should be puffed up and golden brown with crisp hard shells. Take out your baking pan and switch off the oven. For any popover that has a domed top with no place for air to be released, use a small knife to pierce the centre so that steam goes out. If you don't do that the popover will collapse as it's cooling if the hot steam is left inside. We don't want a sad wilted popover.

8) Serve warm with butter or jam as a main dish or as a side to oatmeal or meat and gravy. The possibilities are numerous with this crispy delight so go all out please. Do what appeals to your heart.

Enjoy 💕