Popovers with Salted Strawberry Butter.
What is a popover? A popover is a light roll made from an egg batter that is cooked in muffin tins or a popover tin. They can be sweet or savory and can be served for breakfast or as a dinner roll. While they require minimal effort to make, they do, however, require precise and consistent heat. When the batter hits the hot heat, steam is created to make the rolls rise and expand. They expand so much, the side will “pop-over” the pan giving them their signature look and name. Both the Wolf E series and M series ovens are masters at maintaining high temperatures. There are many methods and recipes for popovers, but Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe is fool-proof and creates the puffiest and chewiest little popovers. We like to serve these with salted strawberry butter.
Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated “Popovers”.
Makes 12 Mini Popovers
Time: 1 hour, plus 1 hour resting time
Ingredients:
2 cups 2% milk, heated to 110°
3 eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups bread flour, or all-purpose
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup strawberry jam, room temperature
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
Finishing salt
Instructions:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle (rack position 3) and preheat oven to 450° on bake. Make sure your oven has had enough time to sufficiently preheat. Grease a 12-cup popover tin with cooking spray and dust lightly with flour. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until light and foamy, then whisk in milk and melted butter until incorporated.
2. In large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and sugar. Add three-quarters of the egg mixture into the flour and whisk until no lumps remain, then whisk in the remaining egg mixture. Cover with plastic and let sit at room temperature for an hour.
3. Pour batter into prepared popover tin. Bake until the popovers just begin to brown, about 13-15 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 300° and continue to bake until popovers golden brown all over, about 20-25 minutes. Quickly poke a small hole in each popover and continue to bake until they are deep golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool in the tin for 2 minutes before turning them out onto the rack. Serve hot.
4. To make butter: In a small bowl, combine strawberry jam and butter. Vigorously beat with a spatula or wooden spoon until butter is combined and airy. Top with finishing salt.