Mini Popovers
There are few culinary tasks as satisfying as producing a perfectly puffed popover. (Or if you’re roasting beef, Yorkshire pudding.) It’s like turning out a perfect soufflé – but who ever makes soufflés anymore? (Not dissing soufflés here – but I’m not convinced they’re common fodder for home cooks.) Then again, who makes popovers anymore? Although they’re even simpler to make as a batch of muffins – whisk together flour, eggs and milk, pour into a hot pan and slide into a hot oven.
And once you know how to turn out a batch of popovers, they take less effort than a stack of pancakes. I can hear eyes roll as I attempt to tell you to whisk together a fresh batch of popovers to serve with homemade jam to your darlings as they roll out of bed in the morning. But seriously – if you’re in the kitchen making coffee and lunches anyway, think about it. Because at the end of the day, when the house is still a disaster and your to-do list is longer than it was in the morning, at the very least you’ll have made popovers for breakfast.
And it’s the sort of thing that once you get, you’ve got. You can whisk flour, eggs and milk in a minute and a half without needing to refer to a recipe.
There’s no real need for a fancy popover pan, although one would be fun to have. To make wee popovers, butter a mini muffin pan or spray it well with nonstick spray; put it in the oven and turn it on to 450F. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 large egg, 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup milk. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and pour a spoonful of batter into each cup, filling it 3/4 full.
Immediately return the pan to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the popovers are puffed and golden. Tip them in the pan to help them cool, and serve with butter and jam.
My dad used to make popovers sometimes when I was a kid and I loved them. I loved the name of them too, not least because (in my hazy memories of childhood) there was a Winnie the Pooh recipe for them from a mid-century cookbook. Is that possible? (I just searched: yes, it is! http://www.amazon.ca/Winnie-Pooh-Cookbook-Virginia-Ellison/dp/0525423591 There are “Popovers for Piglet” in there.)
Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that souffle is a semi-regular staple in my house, and this is an enthusiastic but definitely non-professional cooking household. We love souffle, as does my 18-month old son. I think of it as a baked omelette with extra whipped egg whites, and everyone seems to think it’s terribly complicated to make but it’s really not at all. (A “French food is hard” conspiracy, if you ask me.) Guests are always impressed and any leftovers make fantastic lunch the next day.
Jessica – I have that book!! My grandparents gave it to me. I think the only recipe I made was honey snow.. but now I have to go look at it again! I also remember poohandpigletpancakes – ah, thanks for the reminder!! I’m going to go find it!
My sister used to make popovers instead of Yorkshire when it was her turn to make dinner as my dad didn’t want us heating the drippings in the oven. I haven’t had them in years. Thanks for the reminder!
Soooo now what I want even more than popovers is to know what “honey snow” is. If you post it (and maybe poohandpigletpancakes) I could share “Cecily Parsley’s Smooth Apple Cream” from Peter Rabbit’s Natural Foods Cookbook (illustrated by Beatrix Postter).
Awww, honey snow? apple cream? I don’t have any kiddie cookbooks; just and old 1800’s White House cookbook that gives a recipe for rabbit stew–“first catch a rabbit!” Beatrix wouldn’t like that one!
Awww, honey snow? apple cream? I don’t have any kiddie cookbooks; just an old 1800’s White House cookbook that gives a recipe for rabbit stew–“first catch a rabbit!” Beatrix wouldn’t like that one!
oops sorry for the repeat–tried to correct a typo.
Ok, now I need to track down my own (or my parents’ old) copy of the Pooh cookbook. If the popovers weren’t enough of a reminder, the honey snow is a definite incentive! And the apple cream (no rabbits included) sounds fab, too!
I made popovers with jam for Christmas breakfast a few years ago, and it was a huge hit. Why have I not made them since? For sure we’ll be having them this weekend.
Those are the most adorable things I’ve ever seen!
I’ve got to try this today.
Julie, when you say “tip them … to help them cool..” what do you mean?
Tip them a bit sideways but leave them in the muffin pan?
… the oven is preheating right now!
Heidi
Yes, tip them in their pans a bit so they don’t sweat at the bottom!
Thanks for this easy recipe Julie. They tasted great! The problem I had was that as soon as I took them out of the oven, they started to deflate. What did I do wrong?
Hmm, these didn’t really work for me. They were more like little egg coins. And the smoke! Oy! So much billowing smoke as the pan heated! Opening windows in February is not so much refreshing as insane! 😉
Oh no Teresa! Yikes! I didn’t get billowing smoke, nor little egg coins.. hmm. I’m not sure what happened! Maybe I’ll do a video so you can see.. the eggs are what make them puff, so it’s not even like your leavening agent could be expired!
Dana – perhaps they weren’t cooked long enough to get that nice golden crust? They do start to deflate a bit as soon as they come out, that’s natural – some people poke them in their sides with a skewer or knife to allow the steam to escape – but they shouldn’t completely deflate.. the ones above had been out of the oven for awhile before I took the photos!
Just made these with my 6yo and they were awesome! Great recipe – thanks!
They’re great! I make them for Yorkshire pudding with roast beef. I know Nigella eats hers with Golden syrup and whipped cream, but I don’t like them like that, I like them with beef gravy and onions 🙂
Golden syrup and whipped cream?!?!?!
Yes Teresa! I had billowing smoke too! and the pan-spray burnt black. I wiped out what I could with a paper towel, then sprayed the mini-muffin tin again and put in the batter.
Next time I’ll spray right before adding the batter, just to test it.
My popovers did deflate somewhat.
I’ll keep on trying until I get it right … such tasty mistakes!
Heidi
My oil was black also. Is that normal? I dumped it out and resprayed. They’re still in the oven, so we’ll see….
what kind of flour self rising or all purpose
I just made these this morning…I used King Arthur all purpose flour. I think the key is making sure your pan is really hot and immediately pour the batter in…no time to waste, be quick! They turned out pretty darn good….if I say so myself. Also be careful not to overcook…. 🙂
PERFECT!
the smoke detector did go off, but tasted delish
These were a tasty day after Christmas snack that I happily devoured with sugar free raspberry spread. I found them a bit ‘eggy’ tasting but that may just be my palate. I had to hit my smoke detector with a broom to knock it off the wall it was beeping so loudly! Great thing about mini muffin pans is, 1 egg, 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup milk yielded 12 little morsels of goodness.
The reason some folks got billowing smoke is that different sprays, oils, and butters have different burn or, smoke temperatures. Butter contains 16% water but could go much higher if using less than AA grade so a thin coating would get very hot very fast after the water evaporates at 212 degrees. The “stuff” in a tub can be almost anything and even though it makes claims to be “perfect” for baking, I care not to try because different oils that are used to make them have a wide variety of smoke points. Ghee would probably be best as it’s smoke rating is extemely high, but it is also quite expensive. Crisco works well for me… no water in it either. I just use a crumpled up piece of waxed paper (like my mom and grandmother) to grease most anything (I am 70 and have been baking for 50 years). Also, if using Nordicware popover pans they do not recommend using any type of spray ever, at all… at high temperatures cooking spray tends to amalgamate itself to the stick free surface making it not so stick free anymore. And if you do try to remove it the stick free layer will come off with it, usually in silver colored strips.