Shirley’s Mile-High Popovers

By broots

by Shirley O. Corriher - Bakewise: the hows & whys of successful baking

What this recipe shows:
The milk and flour need to stand about an hour so that the flour is fully hydrated. Adding hot cream to warm the batter just before it goes in the oven helps the batter to heat fast, producing steam for a great rise. The hot stone is vital in providing instant heat from the bottom to make the batter explode into a great puff. Egg whites will make drier, crisper puffs.—Shirley Corriher

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs, in the shells
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 3/4 cups spooned and leveled Pillsbury bread flour
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Nonstick cooking spray

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from leitesculinaria.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Place the eggs in a bowl of very hot tap water to warm. After a while, drain and cover again with very hot tap water.

2. In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk until it feels warm to the touch. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl (if you have a large measuring cup with a spout, that is great) and, with a fork or whisk, beat in the milk a little at a time to prevent forming lumps. Allow the flour/milk mixture to stand at room temperature for at least an hour.

3. After the flour/milk mixture has been standing for about 15 minutes, place a shelf in the lower third of the oven with a baking stone on it and preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C). If you think that your oven is low, turn it to 500°F (260°C). It is important that the oven be very hot.

4. After the flour/milk mixture has stood for over an hour, place the popover pan in the oven on the stone to heat.

5. Separate 3 of the eggs, saving the whites and storing the yolks. Beat the 2 whole eggs and 3 egg whites together, beat in about 1/2 cup of the flour/milk mixture and then beat the egg mixture into the flour mixture.

6. Heat the cream almost to a boil. Sprinkle the salt over the batter and whisk in the hot cream.

7. Pull the hot popover pan out of the oven. I like to place the pan over the sink. Spray one cup of the popover pan well with nonstick cooking spray and immediately pour batter into that cup, filling over three-quarters full. This 6-cup batch of filling is exactly enough for 6 cups. Repeat spraying and filling each cup. Place the popover pan on the hot stone and bake for 9 minutes. Do NOT open the oven. Turn down the heat to 425°F (218°C), and bake for 7 minutes more. Do NOT open the oven. Turn down the oven to 325°F (162°C), and leave the popovers in 20 to 25 minutes more for the popovers to dry out.

8. Dump the popovers onto a rack to cool a minute. Serve immediately with really good butter and preserves. You can make these several hours ahead and rewarm them at 300°F (149°C) for 5 minutes. Or, when they are completely cool, you can seal them in heavy freezer zip-top bags and freeze.

9. Reheat in a 300°F (149°C) oven for about 5 minutes