WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS The perfect popover soars to towering heights, but only if you get the baking magic just right. We wanted to create a foolproof recipe that would produce tall popovers with a crisp exterior and custardy interior. WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS The perfect popover soars to towering heights, but only if you get the baking magic just right. We wanted to create a foolproof recipe that would produce tall popovers with a crisp exterior and custardy interior.
INCREASE THE BATTER Popovers are made with a pancakelike batter of milk, eggs, flour, and melted butter. The most common formulas we found in our research made for skimpy popovers, so our first move was to double the recipe to fill the same 6-cup popover pan.
BUILD STRUCTURE WITH BREAD FLOUR High-protein bread flour yields popovers with the highest rise and crispiest crust. The downside is that bread flour is so sturdy it sometimes sets up too quickly, which impedes rise. Resting the batter for an hour before baking gives the proteins in the flour time to relax and prevents the popovers from setting up too quickly.
GO LOW-FAT FOR A HIGHER RISE We had been using whole milk in our recipes as tradition dictated, but the fat was weighing down our popovers. Low-fat milk fixed the problem. A pinch of salt and sugar helps with flavor.
GIVE ’EM A POKE Popovers will collapse like leaking tires as they cool, so we poke a hole in the top of the popovers toward the end of baking and then again once out of the oven. This slowly releases the steam and keeps the crisp structure intact.