Popovers

Hot popovers slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper fresh out of the oven have long been among my favourite late-night treats — provided I've got the patience to wait the half hour that they take to bake, time that's usually spent gazing through the oven door with anticipation. But any patience exhausted by waiting on baking time is compensated for by a quick and easy preparation, and rewarded by light and fluffy treats with a delicious egg-y flavour. A perfect Thanksgiving treat to go along with your meal.

A close relative of yorkshire pudding, popovers are not only a great snack but also make a great addition to any number of meal ideas. Like yorkshire pudding, popovers are simple to make but are very sensitive to precise mixing techniques, temperature and timing. The instructions below should guide you through the process of making perfect popovers, among which perhaps the most important is DON'T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! I can pretty much guarantee that once you've made popovers the first time you'll be making them again soon. You will find it hard to resist eating the whole batch once they come out of the oven.

Note that the instructions call for filling alternating cups in muffin trays. There is a product available in kitchen stores called a popover tray. If you have a popover tray, disregard the instructions about alternating cups and filling empty cups with water.

Popovers

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 large eggs
1 cup milk

Preheat an oven to 450°. Using two 12-cup muffin trays, butter five alternating cups of one tray and four alternating cups of the second tray. Warm the trays in the oven while preparing the popover batter.

Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk until light and foamy. Whisk the egg and milk mixture into the flour mixture until just blended. Do not overmix.

Sprinkle a little flour into the buttered cups and fill the empty cups 2/3-full with water. Fill the buttered and floured muffin cups 2/3-full with the batter. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° without opening the oven door. Continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until the popovers are a deep golden brown. Do not underbake.

Remove from the oven and remove the popovers immediately onto wire racks. Smother with butter and sprinkle with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve hot.

Yields 9 popovers.