Popover Recipe - Learn to Cook Series (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to popovers? ›

Preheating your oven to the correct temperature is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure popover success. The hotter your oven, the higher your popovers will rise. Which makes sense: the faster liquid in the batter turns into steam, the more chance your popover has to expand before its crust sets.

Check out the tips below to keep your popovers fresh. To make ahead: You can make the batter and refrigerate it for up to one day before baking.

If you add more flour, the batter will be heavier and the popovers won't rise quite as high. The lower the rise, the more dense the bread filling and the smaller the hollow center.

The flour needs some time to absorb into the liquid, which not only thickens the batter a bit, it also allows the gluten molecules to relax which makes for a lighter, not chewy popover. The resting period also makes the batter more velvety and helps allow air bubbles to release.

Because popovers rely on steam to rise — as opposed to baking powder, baking soda, or yeast — you want your batter warm when entering the oven. This King Arthur Flour article says it best: “The warmer your batter going into the oven, the more quickly it'll produce steam: simple as that.”

How to make popovers. Before we get started: all of your ingredients should be at warm room temperature. To warm ice-cold eggs from the fridge, place them in a cup of hot tap water for about 10 minutes.

An additional trick for keeping popovers crisp is to gently poke a hole in the side of each one with a sharp knife when you remove it from the pan to allow extra steam to escape without deflating the crust dome.

If your popovers lose volume when they come out of the oven, they are probably underbaked. When these airy baked goods aren't cooked enough, too much steam stays trapped inside. That moisture condenses once they're removed from the oven, causing them to collapse.

Greasing the pan ensures that the finished popovers don't stick and promotes browning on the exterior of the popover.

Should popover batter be lumpy? ›

Add the flour all at once. Whisk till all the big lumps disappear; smaller lumps are OK. Whisk in the butter, and let the batter rest for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the little lumps will have risen to the top.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 15 minutes more, or until popovers are puffed and browned. Do not check popovers until they have baked for a total of 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and serve hot.

Cooking fat: Yorkshire pudding is a dripping pudding, meaning that chefs traditionally make it using the meat drippings leftover from cooking a Sunday roast dinner. Meanwhile, popover recipes tend to call for butter instead. Yorkshire pudding batter, therefore, takes on a more savory flavor than popover batter.

Rule 6: Pierce each popover with a sharp, thin-bladed knife immediately after they are removed from the oven. This allows the steam to escape and will help keep the exterior crispy.

I heated the pans before greasing them, I greased them before heating them. Some popovers rose triumphantly, only to fall faster than a rock. Others stuck to the pan or cups and had to be chiseled out with a screwdriver. ``That's because you didn't flour the pans after you buttered them,'' a friend sniffed.

The cookie sheet will shield popovers' tops from direct heat. If you plan on serving the popovers immediately, remove them from the oven, and stick the tip of a knife into the top of each, to release steam and help prevent sogginess. Slip them out of the pan, and serve.

Popover pans are distinguished from regular muffin tins by their deep, steep-sided wells. This forces the batter upwards and results in a popover with a puffy dome and crispy sides. Many popover pans have the cups welded to a wire rack. While this looks odd, it promotes even circulation of air and heat around the tins.