As with so much else that is fine and delightful in my life, I learned about popovers from Christina. When we lived together in graduate school she’d whip these up from scratch after a long night studying, or a long night doing whatever it is 20-something graduate students do. It made a great impression on me. It only took 15 years for me to try them myself.
Ah, the popover: warm and doughy, a half-opened bottle cap-shaped object of morning delight. An excuse to have your cake and eat it too. I don’t think my kids realize how good they have it, when Mom decides it’s a popover morning.
There is some lore surrounding the humble popover, and I salute these pursuits. But I use Mark Bittman’s simple recipe, to admirable results:
1 Tbsp melted butter, plus some for greasing the muffin tin
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease a standard muffin tin and put it in the oven while you’re making the batter.
Beat together the eggs, milk, butter, sugar and salt. Then beat in the flour, a little at a time. The batter should be smooth. Fill the tins at least halfway (you probably won’t have enough to fill all 12 of them).
Bake for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and continue baking for another 15 minutes. NO PEEKING! They have to bake for 30 minutes before you open the over door. They should be puffed up and lightly browned.
Serve hot, with butter and jam and scrambled eggs. (I’m trying to learn how to do scrambled eggs a la Julia Child…but it hasn’t worked yet. My kids don’t know the difference.)
It’s like having candy for breakfast. They will complete all homework on the spot if you promise them a popover morning.
Try it and see for yourself.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
my dad used to cook these up frequently when I was a kid. i’ve been planning on making them but keep putting it off. but when i do make them we’re having them with HONEY BUTTER – the ONLY accompaniment. meaning, mos def try them with honey butter if you really want to bring home the CANDY FOR BREAKFAST thing. cheers.
Those look great and I love how simple the recipe is. My favorite way to eat them is with strawberry preserves.
I think that the milk was left out of the ingredients, (just when I was thinking it’s time to learn to make these. (sigh)
I did leave the milk out Yikes! I’ll fix asap. See how I am? Thanks for the catch Jan!
Now go make them! And tell me how they turned out. 😉
Just came across your blog…I’m really enjoying it and I love the title. I have my own share of kitchen disasters on a semi-regular basis as well 🙂
My husband and I made these this morning, and thanks to newborn-induced fatigue combined with potty-training-twins hilarity, we managed to screw these up by forgetting the melted butter until we’d already poured half the batter in. Then I compounded the problem by adding the full amount of butter to the remaining half of the batter.
They were…edible. I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear the ones with twice the butter were better than the ones with no butter!
Those popovers looks so tasty, thanks for offering it!