Oh Christmas time, Oh Christmas time!
On that note, I'm going to tell you about the wonderful and fun little Popover. Popovers are easy and require very little ingredients. They are also versatile and can be flavored with an array of ingredients, which goes well with my need for options. For the first time ever though, I actually stuck pretty close to the original ingredient list, but don't let that fool you, I will be making many variations soon. I just so happened to have all the ingredients necessary on hand. This recipe is a recipe I have adapted from "The Art and Soul of Baking," by Cindy Mushet. It is Cindy's Parmesan-Herb Popovers. I happened to have fresh rosemary that my friends had brought me on the night of our party, as a hostess gift. It is so wonderful, so fresh and green, and not like the beautiful fresh rosemary I receive from Happy Boy Farm at the Farmer's markets. It was different, almost like a branch off the Christmas tree, the leaves had more oil, they were small and rounded instead of flat and pale on the back. Anyways, They were amazingly easy to chop and filled the room with their aroma. It has seriously made me consider growing rosemary in my own backyard.
OK, back to the popovers. Popovers are fun because they are like a mini science experiment. Well, most baking is a science experiment but this is one that is more visual. See, for Popovers, you do not use any baking powder or chemical leavening agent, most of the rise comes from the way you set up your pan, the eggs and butter, and the changes in temperature. Its all in the technique. You could have beautiful popovers, or some flat ones, either way they will taste great, but its fun to see if you can get them just right.
What I do is while I am gathering my ingredients, I have turned the oven on to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and I have used a paper towel moistened with canola oil to lightly grease a muffin pan. You could use a fancy Popover pan but mine came out fine with a muffin tin. Then, I place the pan in the oven and heat it for 7 minutes, this makes the pan pretty hot when you go to pour the batter in and this will help with the rise of the popovers. Once I had all my ingredients mixed, I poured the batter up to 3/4 of the way up in the muffin tin and place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. After that time is up, I turned the heat down to 400 degrees Fahrenheit as recommended in my book. The first blast of hot heat helps the popovers use the steam from the butter and eggs to rise, then lowering the heat helps them cook and brown evenly. As you can see, it worked! Feel free to substitute any herbs or flavorings you want, keeping in mind how much water it may let off or how much the ingredient weighs, all of these factors will affect the rise of your popovers.
Recipe for Parmesan-Herb Popovers; Adapted from " The Art and Soul of Baking," by Cindy Mushet
Ingredients
*1 cup or 8 oz heavy whipping cream (the original recipe calls for whole milk, I just had a ton of cream left over from the party)
* 2 large eggs
* 2 Tbsp Butter, melted
* 1 cup AP flour
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
* 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped very fine
1) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, grease your muffin pan with some canola oil, I find that the cooing spray burns at such a high temperature so I recommend the oil over the spray this time. When the oven is hot enough, place your pan in there to heat for 7 minutes.
2) while the pan is heating gather your ingredients. Whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter, flour and salt, just until combined or you risk over-mixing and causing too much gluten to form, resulting in tough muffins. Add the herbs and cheese of your choice, mix just until combined.
3) Take the pan out of the oven and using a measuring cup or ice cream scoop, fill the muffin pan with batter till it is about 3/4 of the way full, allowing room for the popovers to "pop." Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
4) Once the popovers have baked at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Allow them to cool for a moment out of the oven, then using an offset spatula or a spoon, pop them out of the pan and place on a wire cooling rack, or plate to continue to cool down. Leaving them in the hot pan may continue to cook them even out of the oven.
5) Serve with butter and honey!
