Basic Popovers

Popovers are wonderful for Sunday morning breakfast with jam or apple butter or honey. They're most dramatic when baked in a popover pan, but you can make them in 1/2-cup/120 millimeter ramekins if you wish.

Ingredients
 

• 1 cup/240 milliliters milk

• 2 large eggs

• Scant 1 cup/120 grams all-purpose/plain flour

• Kosher salt

• 4 tablespoons/55 grams butter, melted

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine the milk, eggs, flour, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix with a whisk or hand blender until uniformly combined. Let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature (or refrigerate overnight, removing it at least 30 minutes before baking).

2. Place a popover pan in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C/gas 8.

3. After about 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the melted butter in each cup. Fill each cup three-fourths full with the batter. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F/200°C/gas 6 and continue to bake until the popovers are golden brown and hot in the middle, about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Popovers and Yorkshire Pudding

Popovers are showoffs. True to their name, they pop out of their pan like a girl out of a cake, as the water in the batter vaporizes. For popover batter, you want the flour to fully hydrate, so it's best to mix the batter at least an hour before you cook it. The recipe will work if you can't wait, but I've found that the popovers are better with the rest — crisper on the outside and creamier inside.

For an excellent savory preparation, try traditional Yorkshire pudding, which is popover batter poured into a pan with beef drippings (or into cups containing melted rendered beef fat).