Popovers!

[ppfuf]

I got a popover pan for Christmas! So far it has been my favorite toy of the season. Most popover recipes are nearly identical, with a few variations I’ve listed below.
Bring ingredients to room temperature (apx 70F) before combining.
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tesp salt
1 Tbl melted butter
Pre-heat oven and popover pan to 450F.
Whisk together salt and flour to aerate. In second bowl, beat eggs. Add milk. Stir. Add dry to wet and mix. The electric beater is ideal for this, although a few small lumps do not seem to create problems. Grease popover pan with butter (you can ignore this instruction if your pan is non-stick! I love non-stick pans!). Fill each cup 1/3 to 1/2 full with batter. Bake 20 min @ 450F, reduce heat and bake for another 20 min @ 350F.

• Better Homes and Gardens (pp. 76) suggests 1 Tbl salad oil instead of butter. Bake 15 min @ 475F and 25-30min @ 350F.
• Alton Brown uses a whopping 1 1/2 tesp salt. Bake 40 min at 400F.
• Fannie Farmer (pp 314) bakes 20 min @ 450F and 20 min @ 350F. Bacon variant: Add 1/4 cup crumbled cooked, crisp bacon.
• Joy of Cooking (pp 632) bakes 15 min @ 450F and 20 min @ 350F. Cheese variant: In a separate bowl grate 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese. Toss with 1/4 tesp paprika and a few grains cayenne. Put 1 Tbl batter into each cup, and 1 Tbl cheese. Fill cups as normal and bake.

Comments

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

Don't use salad oil. That's just wrong.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

The cheese version was good, but the 20 min @ 450F and 20 min @ 350F bake was too long. They looked slightly burned, but tasted like toasted cheese.
I put a little butter on the bottoms of the pan, and they "feet" were weird again. I need to have more faith in my non-stick.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

The answer to the foot problem is to use the leftover melted butter on the _bottoms_ of the pans only. Having butter go up the sides it what results in the odd feet.
Next, I need to decide whether to make a half-batch or a 1.5-batch at a time.
Note to self, my pan works best on 1/3 cup batter in each divot.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Always beat the eggs before adding the flour, or you will get no lift.

[gormflaith.livejournal.com]

Even the not-lifted ones were tasty!

Jason says used skim milk

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

See https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102666439467928&set=a.541720178458.2109247.219707410&type=3&theater
Possibly this:

3 large eggs
2 cups 1-percent or 2-percent low-fat milk, heated to 110ºF
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups (11 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
DIRECTIONS
Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 450ºF. Grease a six-cup popover pan with the shortening, then flour the pan lightly. Whisk the eggs until light and foamy in medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk and butter until incorporated.
Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Whisk three-quarters of the milk mixture into the flour mixture until no lumps remain, then whisk in the remaining milk mixture. Transfer the batter to a four-cup liquid measuring cup, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for one hour. (Alternatively, batter can be refrigerated for up to one day. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
Whisk the batter to recombine, then pour into the prepared pan (the batter will not reach the top of the cups). Bake until just beginning to brown, about 20 minutes. Without opening the oven door, decrease the oven temperature to 300ºF and continue to bake until the popovers are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes longer. Poke a small hole in the top of each popover with a skewer and continue to bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, poke the popovers again with a skewer, and let cool for two minutes. Remove from the pan and serve.
Makes six popovers.

Jason says always use low-fat milk

[ppfuf]

Jason got some lovely lift on his popovers. He used low-lat milk and adds a scrape of nutmeg.
This morning I used 1 cup of 2% milk, and my not-awake-yet brain used he pastry brush to add melted butter to the tops and the sides of the pan. Also used more dough (1/2 cup) in 5 divots, and what appeared to be slightly less in the last,