Treasuring Simplicity: Popovers

A few months ago, one of our favorite restaurants in New York closed: Popover Café. We used to either order or go to this restaurant once a week. The place did not have amazing curb appeal, but the food was good, and the popovers were delicious.

We also loved it because we knew that Alex would eat there—having a picky toddler, you start to choose your restaurants more on what your child will eat and less about what you want to eat. But, at Popover, you could have it all: food you wanted without worry that your child wouldn’t find something on the menu.

When the restaurant closed its doors, we were devastated. We ate there every night leading up to the closing. The day before they shut their doors forever, we ate there as a family one last time. Alex still walks by the boarded up restaurant and says, “Popover”.

I decided to try and re-create the popover experience by making my own (along with strawberry butter, which they always served with the popovers). My mother-in-law gave me a popover dish, which made the popovers so much better (previously, I was using a cupcake/muffin pan). In combination with the strawberry butter, they remind us of the place we shared so many memories.

Popovers

I used Ina Gartner’s recipe for the popovers. They were so light and fluffy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups of flour

3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups of milk, at room temperature

NOTE: You will need either two popover pans or two cupcake pans.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Generously grease aluminum popover pans or Pyrex custard cups (I found that spraying the pans with nonstick spray makes them easier to come out).

3. Place the pans in the oven for exactly 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans less than half full and bake for exactly 30 minutes.

4. DO NOT PEEK!