Popovers / Yorkshire Pudding

I love Popovers or Yorkshire Pudding as they call them in England. These take me way back to my California days when we were landscaping our new home in Upland. There was a place called Lord Charley's and it had the best Prime Rib ever and they always served Yorkshire Pudding with it. So nice to sop up the au jus with them. I have measured the taste of every Prime Rib against their's ever since. Every saturday for quite a while we would work in the yard all day and then the four of us would clean up and go to Lord Charley's. Our girls were only 8 & 10 at the time. Ahhh, the good old CA days. I can feel the warmth.

OK, back to the Popovers.  Eat them plain and you can call them Popovers, eat them savory and you should call them Yorkshire Pudding. Below the recipe I will list some variations that you can try.  There are two things you should remember about making them and that is to never open the oven door - ever - until they are done and they are best served immediately. If you want to peek at them use the oven light and if you need to reheat them use a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.

I have a Popover pan that I use but you can use a cupcake tin. They just won't be as high.

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups whole milk
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 large eggs, at room temperature
non-stick spray

Directions
Place milk in a bowl (or 4 cup measuring cup) and microwave on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until warm to the touch.

Whisk or sift flour, salt, and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.

Add the eggs into the stand mixer fitted with a whisk. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes.

Turn down the mixer to low and add the warm milk.

Gradually add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Turn the machine off and LET THE BATTER REST FOR 1 HOUR AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.

When it's almost 1 hour, preheat oven to 450F degrees.

Place each popover pan on a baking sheet and spray the cups with non stick spray.

Fill the cups a little over 3/4 full with the batter.

Transfer to the oven and bake on 450F for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven temperature to 375F and bake for 30 more minutes, or until the popovers are a deep golden brown on the outside and airy on the inside.  This recipe make 12.

Plain popovers are good with fruit butter. I had Lingonberry jam so I used that but it is good with any jam, (strawberry or raspberry) or butter and honey.

Fruit butter: 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature and 1/2 cup good quality fruit preserves. Whip together.


Savory Yorkshire Pudding:

For Parmesan & Herb Yorkshire Pudding -  Pour batter into cups. Mix together 1 1/2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese and 4 tablespoons dry italian herbs. Sprinkle over tops of batter in the cups and then put a 1/2 teaspoon butter on top, bake.

For Gruyere Chive Yorkshire Pudding -  2 to 4 tablespoons minced fresh chives, 1 1/4 cups Gruyere cheese, grated. Mix into batter and pour into sprayed cups, bake.