If you have never had a popover, you have not lived. There’s this place we go every time we’re in Maine called the Jordan Pond House, and they introduced me to the glory that is a popover many years ago. I’m sure I’ve posted pictures of my kids chowing down on them during past vacations. Oh here we go.
As you can see, no one is immune to the charm of the popover, not even my picky eaters.
We love popovers so much that one year when we were in Maine, my mom bought a popover pan (it’s like a muffin tin but bigger) and we tried to make them. We tried several recipes, but it was one big popover fail after another. We even researched popover tips and tricks online, and no matter what we did, we could NOT make a decent popover. And it’s not like there is much variation among recipes — there are only 4 basic ingredients (milk, eggs, flour and salt.)
I came home and tried them on my own a few times, but it was all for naught and I finally gave up.
THEN.
I was in NYC a couple of weeks ago dining at BLT Prime, and I turned around to find the waiter behind me with a plate full of gorgeous, steaming hot popovers. I immediately asked the waiter if he would come home with me and serve fresh popovers at every meal, and like magic, he reached into the basket and pulled out a little card with the recipe inside.
I snatched it and promptly placed it in a very safe place so that I could be sure to try and recreate them at home.
They were every bit as delectable as their popover cousins in Maine but with a little twist that I quickly discovered upon inspecting the recipe to be Gruyere cheese. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART. Popovers AND Gruyere? A match made in heaven!
I was determined to try making them at home, but I didn’t have high hopes for my popovers. After all, the popover and I have a rather rocky history.
But determined to try, I set out earlier tonight to give the recipe a whirl.
I dutifully read through the directions and set out my ingredients.
I warmed 4 cups of milk on the stove and whisked 8 eggs until they were foamy.
Actually, my son was “bored” so I put him to work:
We combined the milk and eggs and set the bowl aside while we grated a block of Gruyere.
And sifted the flour and the salt together.
Then we combined it all and ladled it into muffin tins. (I don’t have a popover pan.) And placed the shredded Gruyere on top.
After 50 minutes in the oven, LOOK what they became:
We dove in the second they hit the counter and didn’t come up for air until the pan was gone. (The recipe made two pans of popovers, by the way, so we have plenty left for breakfast tomorrow.)
They were DELICIOUS. The real deal. Everything I had hoped and more. Now I don’t have to go back to Maine or New York City to get a decent popover. Of course, this may not be such good news for my waistline.
Want the recipe? I figured you would.
Popovers
Author: Jo-Lynne Shane
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk, warmed
- 8 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 1-1/2 heaping Tbsp salt
- 2-1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350 degrees.
- Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.
- Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth. Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and grease LIBERALLY — the top as well as inside the cups. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temp (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 3/4 full. Top each popover with approximately 2 Tbsp of the grated Gruyere.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan and serve immediately.
Notes
I don’t see any reason why the Gruyere couldn’t be optional. If you don’t have any and/or don’t want to break the bank to buy some, try the recipe without and let me know how it turns out.
