Popovers are light, delicious, baked rolls made from flour, eggs, butter, salt, and milk. They are a kind of scone with an eggy touch. These are mostly served with butter and jam on top but can also be used with a savory meal.
While the ingredients may differ slightly, they are mostly made using the mentioned ingredients. Popovers are made in muffin pans or specially designed popover tins.
They’re supposed to rise and, well, pop over the top of the tin. If they don’t, they can be disappointingly heavy and claggy. Here are a few reasons why this may happen.
Why Popovers Didn’t Rise?
Making popovers isn’t that difficult as both the ingredients and the procedure are quite simple so please don’t let one failed attempt put you off!
1. Not Using a Preheated Hot Pan
One of the essential requirements for making popovers successfully is that you need to have a preheated pan. If you place the popover batter in a cold pan, this will inhibit the rising.
For this reason, they cannot be made in silicone muffin pans.
2. Temperature Of Batter
Ungreased or unsprayed pans will cause the batter to stick to the edges and inhibit its rising.
Use a cooking spray generously before adding the batter or brush the pans with cooking oil and a pastry brush before preheating them.
3. Not Preheating the Oven
Getting the oven up to temperature before putting your pans in is vital for any form of baked goods, not just popovers. Popovers, in particular, need a fast rise so they must go into a preheated oven that is up to the correct temperature.
4. Ingredients Too Cold
As with any baking, the ingredients such as the eggs and butter should be at room temperature before being mixed into the batter. If they’re too cold, they will inhibit the rising.
5. Recipe Not Good
Make sure you use a tried and tested recipe (such as the one we’ve supplied below) with the correct ingredient ratios. If you’re getting a recipe online, be sure to read the reviews to make sure it works.
If it sounds wrong, it probably is wrong!
Tips For Making Perfect Popovers
It is helpful to understand how popovers rise. The batter consists mainly of eggs and milk or water with a small amount of flour to help them hold their shape. There are no other leavening agents.
As soon as the batter touches the preheated pan, the eggs begin to coagulate. As they cook, the moisture inside creates a large amount of steam inside the popover. This forces the batter upwards and it “pops over” the top of the pan.
The steam creates a soft, custardy yet hollow inside while the heat creates a crispy, golden exterior. Is your mouth watering yet?
- Use a dedicated popover pan rather than a muffin pan. These specialized pans really do make a difference. Muffin pans have a narrower base than the top, whereas popover pans have straight sides and higher, slimmer cups. The shape forces the batter upwards as it clings to the high walls.
- The batter should be fairly liquid – somewhere between a crepe and a pancake batter. And remember that it must be at room temperature.
- The pan must be greased. Your choice – use melted butter, oil, or cooking spray. This stops the popovers from sticking plus creates a crispy, golden exterior.
- The oven must be preheated. You’re going to need a very hot oven to create a quick rise. 425˚F is optimal.
- The pan must be preheated. Heat it in the oven after greasing it. This extra step makes a huge difference to how high your popovers rise.
- Fill the hot pans correctly. They should be slightly over half full. Too full and there will be a mess and you’ll have misshapen popovers. Use a measuring jug to pour the batter into the pans. Put the pan into the hot oven immediately after it has been filled.
- Never, ever open the oven door during cooking time. This will release too much hot air and cause your popovers to flop. Leave them undisturbed until the timer goes off then check them using the oven light, leaving the door closed. They are done when they have risen nice and high over the top of the pan and they are quite a dark golden brown. If you’re using dedicated popover pans, your creations should be done in 20-25 minutes.
- Prick them with a sharp knife as soon as they come out of the oven to release steam and prevent them from collapsing.
- They must be served as soon as they are done. Popovers do not keep.
Recipe for Perfect Popovers
You need:
- 1 ¼ cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup full-fat milk
- 4 extra-large eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
You do:
- Preheat the oven to 425˚C.
- Brush 6 popover cups with oil or butter or spray them. Put the tray into the oven to preheat.
- Use a big bowl. Put in the flour and salt. Mix them together.
- Use a big jug. Put in the milk and eggs. Whisk together. Add to the flour, whisking very well until you have a smooth, liquid batter. We recommend whisking for 3 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in the melted butter until just incorporated.
- Take the pan out of the oven. Immediately pour the batter into the popover pans, dividing it evenly among 6 of them.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Prick with a sharp knife, remove from the pans, and serve at once with butter and jam.
