Every time I take a loaf of bread from the oven, I feel like a Midwestern Merlin, a Warrenville Wizard, a Household Goddess.
So let’s give a grateful wave of our apron strings to egg whites, baking powder, yeast and bicarbonate of soda, those boosters of baked goods. But for sheer simple bang for the bounce, popovers are unbeatable.
Neiman-Marcus figured this out decades ago when, at its Zodiac Room restaurants, it presented a popover basket rather than a bread basket at every meal, along with their signature cup of chicken bouillon. I’ll forgive N-M for not selling anything I can afford because of the free popovers and broth.
I met my very first popover at the table of Mrs., Stewart, the mother of a childhood buddy. That’s a food memory as powerful to me as my first oyster, my first caviar, my first Peanut Buster Parfait. My own mother adored them when we ladies lunched at the Zodiac Room, but never made them herself. She made Yorkshire Pudding regularly—essentially the same recipe —but never poured that batter into a muffin cup.
One of the chief beauties of the popover is that it’s divine at every meal: with honey or jam for breakfast, with soup and a salad for lunch, and alongside stews for dinner.
It’s a four-ingredient recipe (five, if you count the salt), and you have all those ingredients in your kitchen 363 days of the year. The batter can be prepared in a blender or food processor, but it’s almost as quick to prepare with one bowl and a wire whisk. Your seven-year-old could master the method first time ‘round.
Parental help is required to get them into the oven, because the baking demands a very hot oven. Don’t fill your pans more than half full—a fuller pan will produce a less peppy popover. Preheat your oven and resist the impulse to open the oven door until the timer goes off. That’s it!
POPOVERS—A PARTY ON A PLATE
Ingredients (Makes six popovers)
One cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Two large eggs
One cup milk
One tablespoon vegetable oil
Melted butter for brushing the popover pan
Preparation
Into a bowl, mix together the flour and the salt.
Add the eggs, milk and oil to the flour mixture, and stir the batter until it’s smooth—it should not be thicker than heavy cream.
In a preheated 450°F. oven, heat a six-cup popover pan or six 2/3-cup custard cups for five minutes, or until it’s hot.
Brush the cups with the melted butter, and fill them half full with the batter.
Bake the popovers in the middle of the 450°F. oven for 20 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 375°F., and bake the popovers for 20 minutes more, or until they are golden brown and crisp.
