Popovers

Today’s recipe is simple, easy to make, quick and with great results. Cool, right? It seems that it had everything … Well, almost! These popovers are very light buns with a golden crisp outside and hollow inside, which can remind us of pâte choux but is more easy to make.

These buns have a very closer similarity to the Yorkshire pudding, in fact the only difference between them resides in the fat used and in the pan to cook them. To make the Yorkshire pudding was used the excess fat of the veal roasts while to prepare the popovers the fat used was butter.

It is said that the cooks of the north of England thought in a way to take advantage of the juices coming from the roasts. They placed a pan under the piece and collected the excess fat. This fat, reused to make the Yorkshire pudding, they greased the pans and managed to give that flavor to the buns.

Although it is believed that this recipe was much earlier, in 1737 a recipe called “dripping pudding” is found in “The Whole Duty of a Woman” and in 1747 a similar recipe appears in a book by Hannah Glasse, “The Art Of Cookery Made Plain and Easy“.

The oldest reference of popovers dates from the year 1850 in a written letter. And the first book, which included them in its recipe book, was “Practical Cooking” by M.N. Anderson in the year 1876.

I think there is really little difference between them, since changing the type of fat used and the pan to cook them (not in all cases) is everything that will help us to differentiate them.

Some music for today. I love this group, hope you like too Two Door Cinema Club – “What you know”  Youtube link 😉

What to do to achieve beautiful popovers?

• After mixing the ingredients we must let rest the batter so the proteins are hydrated and the gluten relax. In this way the popovers will grow better and evenly.
• There is a specific mold for popovers but do not worry if you do not have it. In my case I do not have it and you can get good results. You can use a muffin pan instead. Mine is from Ikea, the hollows are narrower and straight.
• We must heat the pan along with the fat used before pouring the batter inside. This will favor us so that the popover grows more and becomes very crunchy.
• Just leave the oven should remove them from the pan to avoid losing their crunchy texture.

Of course we can aromatize them with aromatic herbs, spices or even fruits. In my case I share a version with fresh blueberries.

POPOVERS

6-8 pieces

• 5 oz (140 g) plain/AP flour
• 4,2 (120 g) whole milk
• 4,2 (120 g) water
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• unsalted butter for the pan
• fresh blueberries (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make popover batter.

1. Sift the flour in a medium bowl, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl beat the eggs for 1-2 minutes.
3. Pour the water along with the milk and salt, beat again to homogenize the ingredients.
4. Mix the dry ingredients with the liquids and beat until smooth, light and without lumps.
5. Cover with film and let rest for 60 minutes at room temperature.

Mix dry and liquid ingredients

Preheat the oven and bake the popovers.

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
2. Grease the holes of the pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray, which you prefer.
3. Add a small square of butter at the bottom of each hole.
4. Place the pan in the oven and leave warm for 3 minutes, enough time to melt the butter but without burn the milk solids.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the batter into each hole, fill to almost the edge. In case you wanted to add blueberries, add 3-4 in each.
6. Put it back in the oven at half height and bake for 20 minutes.
7. After this time, without opening the oven door at any time, reduce the heat to 325ºF and bake for a further 15 minutes. The total baking time will be 35 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, unmold and allow to warm slightly on a rack.

Popovers should be served freshly made, it is at the time that best texture they have. They can be consumed with both sweet and salty, are perfect to accompany many dishes or be part of our breakfast or snack.

In my case I accompanied them with a quick jam of blueberries and cream cheese … Spectacular!

How is this quick jam made? Very easy.

In a saucepan add about 3,5 oz (100 g) of blueberries along with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar and the juice of 1/4 lemon. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries begin to soften and loosen juices, it will take around 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour in a bowl or bowl where we will present.

Other options:

• If you prefer to serve them with a more elaborate jam, here you are some homemade jams (only available in Spanish).
• If you prefer salty choices, maybe this carrot and chickpea dip with harissa, this avocado and chickpea hummus  or tradicional and this roasted red peppers and almonds dip  (only available in Spanish) will be a better choice 🙂

Without a doubt the ideal is that you accompany them with what you like most because it is in the way that you will most enjoy them 😉

Big hugs,
Eva

Source: Wikipedia