From the Kitchen: Perfect Popovers

There's nothing like a good popover, whether for brunch with fruit compound butter or as a side to a great dinner - browned and crispy on the outside, moist and eggy on the inside - perfection.  After years of making faux popovers using a regular muffin tin, I recently bought a popover pan - hey, what else was I supposed to do to get to the $35 minimum for Amazon free shipping?  (I bought this one, and the nonstick coating is great.)  The difference in the popovers was AMAZING - totally worth it!  

I halved this recipe (my husband and I do not need 8 popovers sitting around the house - they'll get eaten!), and it made 4 impressively large popovers in a normal-sized popover pan.  I had a little bit of a challenge halving the 1/6 teaspoon baking soda (how the heck do you measure 1/12 teaspoon?!) but I just used a 1/4 teaspoon and eyeballed it 1/3 full.  It seemed to work fine :

Perfect Popovers

Adapted from Making Lemonade

Yield: 8 popovers

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 eggs, room temperature*

2 cups milk, room temperature*

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/6 teaspoon baking soda**

*Ideally, let your eggs and milk come to room temperature before preparing.  If you forget (like I always do) or are short on time, just warm the milk in the microwave for about a minute (not too hot or it will cook the eggs).

**I'm not sure how you're supposed to accurately measure 1/6 teaspoon.  However, it's so little that I think you can just eyeball it - use a 1/3 teaspoon and shoot for half full.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  If necessary, move the rack in your oven to allow enough room above the popover pan - keep in mind that they will rise up to 4-5 inches above the pan, and you don't want them hitting the top of the oven.  Spray a popover pan with cooking spray.

Whisk the eggs in a medium mixing bowl.  Add the milk and whisk until well blended.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until nearly smooth.

Fill popover pan cups 3/4 full with batter.  (You can also use a muffin tin - it will make more, but smaller, popovers).  Bake for 14 minutes.  Without opening the oven (you don't want the heat and steam to escape!) reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the outside is crispy and brown.  

Remove from oven and immediately pierce the bottom of each popover with a knife to allow the steam to escape (this helps them stay crispy).  Serve immediately with butter, jelly, and/or whipped cream (depending on what meal you're serving them with!)