A Faster Way to Popovers

Popovers
I have gotten into the habit of making popovers with my daughter on Sundays. The team approach works reasonably well: I measure the ingredients, she dumps them into the bowl, and we take turns mixing. Then, for some peculiar reason, she will inevitably dipping her hands into the measuring cup, eating the plain flour off her fingers until there is no more. I don't get this part

While popovers may not be as magical as the David Eyre's Pancake, watching a few spoonfuls of batter transform into the tall, airy, eggy, crunchy treats is almost as amazing (and delicious, too).

Anyapop The only drawback to making popovers is the interminable baking time.

If you follow this recipe from Gourmet magazine (published in 1996), for example, you'll end up spending almost an entire hour baking the popovers. That waiting time can strain anyone's patience, particularly a four-year old's (even after a marathon viewing of" Wonder Pets" as a distraction).

But, why should popovers take so long to bake?

Though I've always slavishly followed the recipe, I decided to experiment with cutting down the baking time, eliminating about 20 minutes in all.

Rather than setting the pan to bake in the over for 45 minutes, I cut the time down to 30 minutes. And instead of pricking them and letting them go another 10 minutes (as the recipe calls for), I stabbed them and baked them for only another 5 minutes.

The popovers came out perfectly fine, and our appetites were satiated all the quicker. Next time, I'll try shaving off even some more time.

One tip the recipe leaves out is to preheat the popover pan before adding the batter. Stick the pan in the oven while it's preheating, remove when hot, and brush each of the cups with butter before pouring the batter to bake. I don't know whether this improves the rising or the crust, but I always do it.


 
Posted by Josh Friedland on Oct 26, 2009 in Dining In, Technique, What's Fresh | Link | | Print this page | Share This



 

Comments

Oct 27, 2009 8:39:32 AM
Posted By: S McLaren

Hey just found this blog, and am loving it. started to blog myself a few weeks ago to share my recipes and thoughts on kitchen gadgets and the like.

It's blog like this that made me want to start this whole blog thing in the first place.

Keep it up.
http://itcheninthekitchen.blogspot.com/

 

Nov 3, 2009 11:57:04 AM
Posted By: D. Hancock

This is just a version of Yorkshire pudding ( a brit thing) You can cut the time down by a lot if you bake at 425 to 450.

 

Nov 7, 2009 10:03:48 PM
Posted By: Mohammad Suhail

Hi :) Nice article post looks so YUMMY and Delicious. LUV it ^^ Regards Mohammad Fadin www.x1q.com

 

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