Thanks for the link to that book, but I do not know how to download it. I did register at the site, but I still saw no way to download the book.

However, I was able to take a screenshot of the popover recipe, which I believe is the one I used as a child:

I was about 10 to 12 years old when I first made this recipe, and I do remember heating the muffin pan in the oven first. The popovers always came out the way I wanted them.

Just a little trick I use for making popovers:

1. Find a ladle that will fill the popover cup exactly as full as you want.

2. A big funnel to fill the cups.

This can make filling the cups fast and with minimum messy dripping.

dcarch

I generally use measuring cups with good handles instead of ladles. I do have a one cup ladle and another much smaller one that I use when making crêpes.

Funnels can drip also and slow down the filling of the cups.

Yes - I have a set of stainless measuring cups with sturdy handles and spouts that I use when filling muffin cups, etc. - basically using them as flat bottomed ladles.

@Lars, when you are on the site, look to the upper left corner where you will see a circle with three dots in it. Click on that to get to the download; you can download as a pdf or an ePub. It does take a while for The American Woman Cook Book to load. So glad you found the recipe you used as a child.

Just to add a little more detail to my way of making popovers:

1. Find a ladle that will fill the popover cup exactly as full as you want. This will make it easier to have same size popovers.

2. A big funnel to fill the cups. The funnel should have a large spout so the popover mix can flow quicker.

3. Mix the popover ingredients in a bowl with a cover. Whatever leftover you can save for making crepe the next day. Popover recipe and crepe recipe ingredients are not that much different.

4. You do need to develop a rhythm to pour popover mix using a ladle and funnel into the cups. Very quick and easy and practically no drips.

5. When baking, put a sheet of foil on the bottom of the oven. Sometimes some cups may pop too much and drip, depending on the heat distribution characteristic of your oven.

dcarch

I have special ladles designed for crêpes, waffles and pancakes. They're great for wide circles. I have my mother's old spouted batter bowl with cover, which is also great for crêpes and pancakes. The popover pan is too narrow for any of my regular or special ladles. I use my OXO 4-cup measuring cup—no redipping ladles!—which has a narrow, pointy spout and easy grip handle, and a soup spoon in the other hand, to hold under the spout while moving, to catch the drips. I want to move fast with the hot pan, and this way is as fast and clean as possible, plus dead easy.

With modern, hidden element, enamelled ovens NEVER put foil or anything else on the oven floor. It can damage the oven in the most expensive way. Put a sheet pan, or the foil, on a lower rack, instead.

I do like popovers, but haven't had any for several years. Lars - and others - discussion made me go look to see what I have. In the way-back of my sheet pan cupboard, behind all the jelly-roll-type pans, I found 2 - two - popover pans! I also found various other muffin pans (5) that I had forgotten I have. Now I have no excuse for not baking more.

And, thank you Lars for posting your recipe card.

I got my new pan yesterday evening, and I was going to make the popovers this morning, but I overslept.

Thanks, WalnutCreek, for the info on downloading the PDF copy of the cookbook. It downloaded very quickly because I have fiber-optic cable, which is super fast. I will enjoy reading this book again. I used to make a lot of cake recipes from this book as a child, and my favorite was a sponge or chiffon cake. I also liked the information on entertaining that I used to read, and I remember becoming fascinated with canapés as a child. My mother used to have parties for her friends, and I would help with that.

@Lars, so glad you were able to download the book. And so happy to know that reading it will bring back wonderful memories for you.

" plllog ------With modern, hidden element, enamelled ovens NEVER put foil or anything else on the oven floor. It can damage the oven in the most expensive way. Put a sheet pan, or the foil, on a lower rack, instead. ------"

Interesting. I don't have a modern, hidden element, enameled oven, so I don't know.

I have had many older ovens before and have put foil or oven liners on the bottom with no problem. All ovens with self-cleaning feature can take heat up to around 1000 degrees F. Obviously a thin foil, which has less heat capacity less than a tea spoon of water, can do no damage. I assume that we all know that you should not block the heat vents on the bottom of your oven.

Do check your user manual if you have a modern oven.

dcarch

I have the Chicago Metallic ones and they are at least 10 years old. They have not come apart, are not sharp and have not lost their coating. However, newer ones may not be as well made.

If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with the NordicWare like Lars showed. I have several bundt type pans from NordicWare and they are all very well made, although they get only occasional use.

I have made popovers with added cheese, I used parmesan, they came out well, like popovers. My stepson cut the top off, filled them with au gratin potatoes and had a carbaholic's dream, LOL.

I use a 2 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup to pour batter, both for popovers and for crepes.

Annie

Yeah, foil liners are fine for old style ovens. Just need a warning when you suggest them. This includes the thin piece of foil. The foil might end up fine, but it can damage the oven.

BTW, some ovens “self clean“ under 600 degees F. My Gaggenau does at 905 degrees F.

The Pyrex measuring cup sounds like a good idea. I can tell how much batter to put in, and I do like to pour from something that has a spout.

I plan to make this tomorrow morning. Today Kevin and I installed a new ceiling fixture in the kitchen, to match the one we installed in the old part of the kitchen last week-end. The first one took longer because the wiring is different in the old part of the kitchen.

So I had a yen to try the cheeseball trick. I had some smoked spicy cheddar, which I had grated, leftover, that needed using. So I made balls with the cheese, and used Lindac's recipe with the extra eggwhite to make sure it would pop well. The cups in the popover pan were 3/4 full with the cheese inside. They did pop tall, but the cheese didn't melt, and made kind of a plug in the top, and I smelled them starting to burn, so pulled them out before I was planning. The tops hadn't dried and deflated immediately, and the center wasn't hollow. It was dense the way I'm used to the bottom of Yorkshire pudding being, in my small experience. Tasted good, but for all they did pop tall, not really popovery. The cheese was very melty, and did make its own pocket, at the top, but there wasn't a pocket for the batter! Mind you, they tasted fine, and were cooked through--just not what I'd call a success.

What I do wonder, however, is whether or not the cheese was oily enough. The TJ's peanutbutter in the peanutbutter cookie popovers, which works so well, seems oilier than the other kinds I've tried.

I made the popovers this evening instead of this morning, as I made banana smoothies for brunch today, since Kevin had bought bananas yesterday.

Here are the proportions I used for the popovers today: 2 eggs, 1 cup water (+3 Tbsp powdered milk & 1 Tbsp powdered cream), 1 Tbsp melted unsalted butter, 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar. I allowed the batter to rest for 2 hours in the fridge before baking.

I'm showing the pan rotated because one cup evidently got filled more than the others.

I used a stick blender beaker with a spout for the batter - this beaker came with an old stick blender, and I use it also when I make crêpes, but I also use a tiny ladle when I make crêpes. This was pretty much ideal for getting the batter quickly into the cups of the pan without dripping, but I think I probably put a tiny bit too much into each cup. The cups in this pan hold 3/4 cup each, and I tried to fill them half full, but I probably came closer to 2/3 full. The very tall one is the last one I poured, and it was possibly 3/4 full - at the most.

All of them came out very well, but I think I could have filled them 1/2 full and gotten six popovers instead of five.

I cut the popovers open on one side and added some shredded cheddar cheese and a bit of sliced turkey breast deli meat and closed them back up.

We ate them for dinner, but it seemed more like a brunch meal. We ate them while they were still hot.

I baked them in the bottom third of the oven at 450° for 20 minutes, turned the oven down to 350° and baked them for 15 minutes more, never opening the oven door, as I could see them through the oven door window.

They came out rather moist inside, which is fine, but it probably would not have hurt to have baked them 2-5 minutes more at 350. Anyway, they were completely done.

I really, really like the pan I have, and these came out even better than the ones I made as a child. I think the weight of the pan is helpful, and the bottom exterior of the pan is very dark, for some reason.

I think adding the 1 teaspoon of sugar helped, and if I had not added salty fillings (cheese and deli turkey breast), they might have needed 1/2 tsp salt instead of 1/4 tsp. Since I did use salty fillings, they came out close to perfect.

I'll take this pan with me to Cathedral City when we go there on Saturday, but I will bring it back when we return to L.A. I can't justify spending the money to have two of these pans - at least at this point.

I should have photographed them out of the pan, but we ended up eating them rather quickly. However, I think you can still see that the sides rose straight up, and there was no spreading, the way muffins usually do. There was absolutely no sticking to the pan either.

Those do look very nice, Lars! My recipe has no added fat - does adding some make a difference?

And I think a ball of cheese might be too dense to melt properly. Was it warm or cold? Perhaps try a loose spoonful of grated cheese instead?

The cheese was more or less room temp wneh it went in. Maybe a little cooler. It melted fine, and formed a pocket the way it was supposed to, but at the top of the cup, rather than the bottom—it floated. It ended up just under the popped out part, and I think it got in the way of more of the batter popping out. I actually think it wasn't dense enough. :)

I'm not sure what adding butter to the batter does, but I saw it in several recipes and decided to try it. I think it is more for flavor. My original recipe did not have it either.

I do recommend adding the cheese after they are baked.

Here is the small bowl containing the cheese that I added to mine at the end.

One of my concerns is that most recipes say to use room temperature ingredients, but I stored my batter in the fridge for two hours, and so it was chilled when it went into the pan. Maybe I should have allowed it to get to room temperature first, but I think that having a heavy heated pan helped compensate for the batter being chilled.

Those look so very good, @Lars.

I melted butter in the muffin tins, so that added flavor to mine for sure.

I tried to join the party tonight. Found a Mark Bittman recipe on NYT that said it would make 12:

5 tablespoons melted butter

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Six sounded good so I halved the recipe. Unfortunately in reality that was only enough for four skimpy popovers. They did rise to more than double their height, but not enough to pop over. Where’d I go wrong?

There are a couple of ways to go wrong, but first off, I would reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. I used 1/4 tsp in mine, which was almost enough. Also, 5 Tbsp of butter is way too much - better to reduce it to 1-1/2 Tbsp.

Technique is also important. The batter needs to be beaten thoroughly, allowed to rest for a minimum of one hour (for the flour to hydrate), and then beaten again before poured into the pan. The pan also should be very hot before you add the batter, and the oven should be very hot in the beginning - 450° to start for the first 20 minutes, and then 350 for the next 15 to 20 minutes. Also, you must avoid opening the oven door during this time.

Does this help? Did you not follow any of the steps I mentioned in the techniques? The excess butter should not be a problem.

The recipe for 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup flour should make six regular popovers. You did not divide that into half, did you? If the recipe said it would make 12, then it meant 12 mini-popovers - not 12 at the regular size.

One cup of flour is for 6 popovers in most recipes. If you halved that, you should have had 3 popovers, so you didn't have enough batter for 4, which is why they are small. The recipe I posted from Sunset uses 3 eggs per cup of flour, which I prefer over 2 eggs. I've made that recipe without resting and it works fine, but making it ahead does give a superior result. I've made with a hot pan, with a cold pan - both work fine. The Sunset recipe bakes the whole time at 375, which also works fine. They are crispy outside and tender/moist inside. They usually do not deflate, even if you don't pierce and rebake as per the instructions.

Just try again a few times and see what recipe/method will get the results you want.

I put no butter nor sugar in mine....but I do put a little butter in each cup before pouring the batter.

I make popovers in the blender...and my pan is a Wilton I like it a lot!

I rarely rest my batter....I suspect many of you are overthinking popovers. they are very easy and basic!

When I first made popovers, I did not rest the batter, and they came out fine, but like Olychick, I do like the results better when I rest the dough. I also did not put any butter in mine when I first made them, but it does improve the flavor, as does a small amount of sugar.

I've thought about increasing the number of eggs to three, but I did like them when I only used two. I've also considered adding two more tablespoons of flour and milk if I add another egg, and I think I would then have the amount of batter I want for six, since my last attempt only made five.

You can also have fun adding a little baking powder.

Look for recipes baking powder for popovers.

dcarch

i prefer alton brown's recipe for popovers.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/basic-popovers-recipe-1973913

a good popover recipe does not require baking powder.

The eggs are what makes it pop. Baking powder with make it more cakey.

"----a good popover recipe does not require baking powder.-----"

Everyone uses good recipes, but end results can be un-predictable.

I would not consider using baking powder cheating if you get good results.

dcarch

Alton Brown's recipe uses six times as much as what I use. I would say that it's for salt addicts only.

I agree about Alton's recipe having WAY too much salt. I think the one I use has ¼ tsp salt with a similar amount of flour and milk with one more egg and it seems a perfect amount.

Sorry I’m just getting back to this. Just checked and the recipe said for 12, and yes I halved the ingredients list copy/pasted above. Highly rated recipe, and interestingly I only saw one comment talk about yield, and that person admitted to filling the cups nearly to the top. (I only skimmed a couple dozen comments out of about 200. Yes I preheated the pan. No I did not let sit - I saw some recipes call for that but this one didn’t and I didn’t have time.

I’ll keep trying. Easy enough, cheap enough, and bad results are still good!

I made some more last night with batter that I had made the day before, and while they rose evenly, they were not hollow 😵. I think in the future I will not allow the batter to rest more than a couple of hours.

Yesterday I took the batter out of the fridge for a few hours to let it get up to room temperature, and before I just used cold batter. I think I should have whipped the batter better before using it, but my right hand got bandaged by my dermatologist after he removed some carcinoma from it and then stitched it up. I can barely use my right hand at the moment, but I can still type without too much pain.

They still tasted very good but were more like muffins, and they had no large holes - just an even texture, which I thought was odd. Next time I'll try adding another egg.

My brother got some reward points at work from someone who was grateful for the job he has been doing, but he can only use these points for gifts, and most of the gifts are household products. He noticed that he could get a waffle iron that flips for about half of the points, and I asked him to look for the Nordic popover pan, and that was another option. So he ordered both the waffle iron and an additional popover pan so that I can have the second pan for the other house and not have to take the pan back and forth. I had been wanting a second waffle iron, although in Cathedral City we have a central griddle that came with the stove we have there, and so I can make three pancakes at a time there on that instead of waffles. I do prefer waffles.

Sorry your hand is hurting, Lars. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery 💐

"---They still tasted very good but were more like muffins, and they had no large holes - just an even texture, which I thought was odd. Next time I'll try adding another eggs.---"

Lars, it seems to me that the shape of popovers can be very different depends on the design of the pan, material of the pan, and your oven's heating characteristics. If you Google Image of popovers using the same type of pan as yours, you may see many of them make popovers about the same shape as yours.

Just my unproven theory.

dcarch

That seems similar to BIL's Yorkshire puddings he made for New Years Day. He made a mistake and cooked them at too low a temp. so they didn't pop. The results were dense and a little bread-y - still tasted really good tho.

I agree that whisking before pouring the batter might help, since it's the air in the eggs that makes it puff, isn't it?

Actually, it's the chemistry of the eggs plus heat that make them pop, but I don't see how aerating them would hurt. A thinner batter pops best, as does a less full cup, but full enough for the volume of pop you want. If you want crisper ones which don't deflate, you need to leave them in the oven to dry out, An extra five minutes should do it, or if you're not serving piping hot, you can turn off the oven and crack it open, like you would for choux puffs.

AND, I just had to drag out my old popover pan (non-stick) and make some. I had forgotten how good they are!! It's just me for a few weeks until DH comes home from physical therapy but I managed to eat two hot! Next day when they were hard and cold I plunked them in hot tea and butter drizzled them. Still so yummy. Interesting that I could have mixed in some cheese as the grater was right next to the bowl on the counter with already grated cheese! Must. Make. More.

The theory about the pan making the difference does not hold up, since I used the same pan both times. The main difference was that I left the batter in the fridge overnight instead of just two hours, and I did fill the cups slightly less, so that I could make six instead of five.

Also, I did whip the batter just before pouring it.

I think adding another egg to the batter will help, but I will also increase the flour and milk by two tablespoons. The next batch I will make will be in Cathedral City, but the pan will still be the same.

So far, we have not had any leftovers, as we are eating them as a meal.

My hand is going to be bandaged for two or three weeks, but it is less painful now, and at least it is easier for me to type today - that was very difficult for the first two days.

Typing with a sore hand is hard, but the popovers are bound to help. Get well quick.

I made another batch today, partly because they are easy to make with a bandaged and sore right hand.

This time I used 3 eggs, 9 oz water, 3 Tbsp powdered milk (I never buy fresh milk), 1 Tbsp powdered cream (because I have it on hand), 1/3 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1-1/2 Tbsp melted butter, 1 cup bread flour, and 2 Tbsp whole wheat flour. I did mix it in a bowl, beating the eggs first (using my left hand), and then I beat in the rest of the ingredients. This mixture fortunately still fit into my stick blender beaker, but I did not use the stick blender.

I let the mixture rest for 20 minutes while I preheated the oven with the buttered popover pan inside, and I whipped the batter before pouring it. I think 20 minutes resting time is sufficient, and here's how they came out:

All of them would stand up on their own except for one:

These all came out very hollow and tall, and so I slit them on the side to fill them with sliced turkey and cheese:

These are the four that we did not eat immediately, but we did eat two each and have two leftover for tomorrow morning. We're leaving town tomorrow, and that should be enough breakfast for us. This was our lunch/brunch for today.

I think this recipe is the right amount for this popover pan. It might be too much for a smaller pan, however.

I still baked them at 450° for 20 minutes and 15 minutes at 350°. Since this works for me, I will continue doing it this way.

ETA: I did not use room temperature eggs, and I also used chilled water, but I did let the batter rest for 20 minutes, which probably brought the temperature up a bit, as well as the melted butter, which I did not allow to cool.

I'm very happy that I will be getting another popover pan, and I'm also grateful to Carol for bringing this topic up! It very much reminds me of my childhood.

Sorry about your hand, Lars, take it a little easy and don't compromise any of the stitches or anything.

The popovers look perfect, especially that last batch. The last time I made some for company (of course, that's always when things happen), they didn't "pop" and they were dense and more like muffins. They were eaten anyway, but I had to make another batch promptly, just to prove to myself that I could!

Annie

My second batch came out dense - like muffins, but I liked them just as much, and so of course they were eaten!

This last batch came out somewhat like pâte à choux (although easier to make), and I like that also.

As someone said above, you're making this so complicated. Use a good Yorkshire pudding recipe, it was never intended to be cheesy or anything else, if it doesn't pop, it's not right. if it's dense and soggy, it isn't right.

If you want cheesy, why not make choux buns which carry cheese wonderfully? You must all be exhausted LOL

Haha Islay, that's why I designated this an obsession 😊

And those look wonderful, Lars!

"-----if it doesn't pop, it's not right. if it's dense and soggy, it isn't right.----"

Come to think of it, why so few people use bread flour? Everyone tend to use all-purpose flour and most recipes use all-purpose flour.

It seems to me that bread flour makes good popovers more reliably. That's what I use, bread flour. When it comes to popover making, it's only about science, not about skills.

dcarch

Not exhausted at all. It's rather difficult to make popovers complicated, and the way I make them is still extremely simple and easy. I also do not care whether they were meant to be cheesy or not - if I want to add cheese to them after they are baked, then I will do so. After all, I am not calling them Yorkshire pudding, and popovers can be whatever one wants to make them.

I've made plenty of choux buns, and I find them more complicated to make, but if I wanted them, I would make them. Normally I make them as a dessert, and I seldom eat sweets anymore.

carolb, I do have to laugh that every time I open the KT the popover thread is at the top. Obsession is right!!! Perfection is impossible and also over-rated.

Have to admit I'm rather chuffed this post has proven to be popular!