Poufy Popovers

Lately, I have been obsessing over making the perfect popover.
I’ve tried 2x now with variable success, at least in the
visual department. As far as flavor, texture, and taste – YUM!!!!
I still can’t figure out how/why these don’t puff up way beyond
the tops of the pan. I’ve tried extended baking while lowering
the temp halfway through. I’ve tried preheating the baking pan
and baking at a higher temp. I will continue to practice but
felt I had to share. This way, I can post updates until the
perfect popover happens!

Full disclosure – in high school, I worked at a restaurant during the
summer as a ‘POPOVER GIRL’. This meant
that when guests arrived and were seated with their
cocktails, I would walk around with my basket of fresh-baked
warm popovers and serve each guest. Thinking back, this was such a
lovely signature part of the menu.
This is what people came to experience!!!

These days, no warm bread served when going out for dinner, no
cocktail snacks with your drink at the bar, packing your
own doggie bag. Wishing going out for dinner were more
special. This may explain my obsession with
making meals at home that are always special!

So onto the first trial, I used my mom’s recipe. There was
no poufing going on except for one! Go figure?
These were baked at a high temp initially, then lowered the temp
and continued baking, so overall a much longer baking time.

These tasted great and the inside is what I was expecting.
Chewy, ‘pull-y’, soft with a crunchy exterior.

My 2nd attempt was using a recipe I had tried so long
ago, I don’t remember how they turned out. So back at it, this recipe
calls for preheating the pan before adding the batter.

Both recipes start with the same ingredients……..
melted butter, milk, eggs, flour/salt

Same technique of filling the pan halfway,
NOT opening the oven during baking…..

Flavor-wise, these were equally delicious.
Appearance-wise, there was alot more poufing going on.
Not as much as I would like to see but preheating the pan
seemed to work alot better.
These were also cooked at a higher temperature
the whole time.

Considering varying lighting on the days I took
these photos, both attempts looked and
tasted equally delicious.

The next attempt will be to use a recipe that a friend gave me
that was his family’s recipe. I’ll let you know how it goes!

But for now, good luck!
Please LMK if you have any secrets to
success with these recipes or your own!