Popovers

I got this recipe from my mom, aeons ago; it came from a classic tome, perhaps the Fannie Farmer Cook Book. They have a spectacular height, a crunchy outside and a gooey, almost custard-like interior. I've finally solved a problem that's vexed me all this time: preventing them from sticking.

I have a 6-cup popover pan, but don't see a reason you couldn't do it in muffin tins. Preheat the pan with the fat in the cups -- oil, bacon or other tasty fat; when the batter hits the hot fat, it will set quickly, instead of adhering to the hot metal. just before adding the batter.

This time, we had some salty country ham from the Amish farmers at the market, so I added it to the batter. I filled the cups first, then lightly added the ham: I find dense things like cheese sink to the bottom.

The sifting of the flour probably isn't necessary, unless yours has clumps. But when I measured with a scale, a cup of sifted flour weighed 127g, while a cup of unsifted flour is 165g -- a 30% difference! I suspect the weight is the important thing, so you can add unsifted flour but have to do it by weight instead of volume.

Below, I'm streamlining the process so I can build the batter in a big measuring cup, which I can then use to pour into the hot pans: easier, and less dirty dishes. You can mix the batter and hold in a fridge until needed, Serious Eats even recommends this; I found the pouring cold batter into the hot pans worked well, I didn't need to let it come to room temperature but you might want to take the batter out of the fridge while the oven heats.

 30 ml   6 tsp    Fat (oil, bacon fat, etc)
240 ml   1 Cup    Milk 
  2 whole         Eggs
 30 g    1/2 tsp  Salt
130 g    1 Cup    Flour (if using 1 C measure, sift first) 

Divide the fat between the Popover Pan cups and put in oven to heat the fat and metal.
Preheat oven to 220C/425F (not convection).
Measure the Milk into a  1L/4C measuring cup with spout.
Add Eggs and Salt, then whip with fork or whisk to mix well.
Add Flour: you can do this on scale to save using another bowl, just put whisk over the cup; if you're using the 1 Cup measure of Flour, remember to pre-sift into its own measuring cup.
Mix the ingredients together but don't over work; some lumps are OK.
Pour into the now screamin' hot popover pan cups, the batter will bubble up; try not to dribble on the cups, else that will stick and your expanding popover may stick to it.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until well-puffed and golden- to rich-brown, depending on your taste.
Remove popovers from pan and serve immediately else the moisture trapped inside will cause them to lose their crunch.
If the popovers have stuck, use something like a wooden knife or stiff heat-proof spatula so you don't scratch the putative non-stick coating.