Next Up: Popovers
It may have become obvious, but lately I’ve been taking on some dinner party-type projects in response to reader requests (some of them urgent). Popovers and Yorkshire pudding are next in line. Let me know if you have a holiday baking conundrum of your own. There are a few weeks left before Christmas and New Years — I hope to get to four or five more. We’ll see!
Oh, man… I’m waiting for this. I just LOVE popovers but seem to always have mixed luck. The are either terrible or wonderfull, rarely anything in between. I can’t wait for your guidance!
Yeah, popover failure is an extremely common thing. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do about it!
Thanks Brian!!
– Joe
It could be that I just didn’t find it in your archives, but my dance instructors are from Lithuania and Poland and they keep asking me to make fried cookies. I think they said they were called angel wings. Or ears. I vote for a section on fried cookies. Not really baking, but close right?
I know those, but haven’t eaten them since I was last in Chicago for the holidays. I’ll make’em!
Thanks Deanna!
– Joe
Hi Joe, this isn’t a recipe conundrum, but it’s a technical question for the season. I make a number of traditional German cookies at Christmas each year such as Pfeffernüsse, Springerle, Pfefferkuchen, etc. Most of them are very heavy on eggs, with no added fats of any kind and often no other liquid besides the eggs (which are beaten to a foam with sugar). Virtually all of the recipes call for the cookies to be formed and left out to dry overnight. Do you know what the reason for drying them is? It just dawned on me (as I wait for a batch to dry at this very moment!) that I can’t recall a drying requirement for any other type of cookie. It seems especially odd since most of these cookies contain either potash or a more modern chemical leavener, which I always thought lose their power pretty quickly after hitting liquid. Any thoughts?
I make an Anise cookie like those. They sit out over night & separate so that when backed they appear to be frosted.
Thanks for the section on popovers, Joe. I always had problems with popovers turning out like muffins until I bought Pie In The Sky by Susan Purdy. She tested the recipes in this book @ sea level, 3,000 ft, 5,000 ft (that’s me), 7,000 ft & 10,000 ft! The popover recipe alone was worth the price of the book and I own it in hardcover! Since I know you have fans at many altitudes, I thought I would mention this book to you again. Popovers are now our go-to Sunday breakfast. They even turn out great in a muffin pan. Popovers, more than anything else are VERY fussy about altitude.
Indeed…they’re all about steam and pressure. Thanks so much, Melinda!
– Joe
Still waiting for those popovers… 🙂 Must be a recipe that takes some practice. Thanks, Joe, for another great week of interesting blogs. Always check you daily for any new items.
Just tried another recipe with the grated egg yolks (remember I had a lot!) I did a brown butter brown sugar muffin and added only 1 since it wasn’t as large a recipe as a cake. They turned out beautiful and everyone seemed to love them. I don’t know if the grated egg yolk adds anything but more flavor and body but all of the recipes I’ve done and added that option have turned out well.
You might want to mention that there are cookies that specialize in grated hard-boiled eggs or only the yolk. I want to try one. It is supposed to make the cookie very sandy like sables.
Linda, you’re going to write a cookbook on grated yolk bakery! I love what you’re doing.
As for the delay, I shall explain myself this morning!
– Joe
Hello! I haven’t been by in ages and ages, and that’s bad on me. :/
But: I am so happy to see that you’ve enable comments!! Used to be that I’d try to email, but for some reason, your server or Jabba the Hutt or someone always thought I was spam. So I wandered off and didn’t come back. But yay for the comments section!
I love popovers. I’ve found that leftover popover batter makes great crepes, and vice versa, too by the way.
Anyway, I shall be visiting much more frequently now that I know I’m not blacklisted by Jabba! 🙂
SO nice to hear from you, Jenni! I regularly wonder how you’re doing, then I stop by the blog and see you’re going strong!
How’s your holiday baking season shaping up?
– Joe
This may be out of your purview, but do you have any tips, thoughts, recipes for bourbon balls? You’re down there in bourbonland and I thought you might have some inside info. Devilish things, they are. Hard to coat in chocolate. Lots of butter and sugar and bourbony nuts, so not much structure and they can be melty and loose. Drat them.
Hey Darren!
That’s a loaded question down here for sure. Seems like everybody has a secret family recipe. I do know one or two people who’ve spent time making bourbon balls for some local producers for the holiday season. Keeping the mixture firm requires one of two things: refrigeration or a binder of some kind. Keeping the mixture cold at all times helps it scoop, then hold its shape while it’s waiting to be enrobed. On the other hand, some people like to use things like ground nuts or cookie or cake crumbs to give the filling body.
Search “Kentucky Bourbon Balls” on google and you’ll get a full spectrum. I have yet to try a bourbon ball that’s really gotten me excited, which is probably why I haven’t done them yet. Maybe I should…
– Joe
I love popovers! My mom’s secret was to crank the oven up to 500f and then turn it down when you put the pan in. My daughter (a professional cook) makes amazingly high popovers & swears by this trick.
I look forward to your recipe
Me too, Frankly! 😉
I need to get going on those today.
– Joe
Failed popovers occur often enough in our family that they have their own term: flopovers. I look forward to the rest of your popover and Yorkshire pud recipes!
I’ll see what I can do about that, Kim. Thanks for the note!
– Joe