September 1, 2012

Cherry Popovers

Posted by HI Cookery under 09 September | Tags: , , , , , |
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Cherry Popovers

Cherry Popovers

September 1: National Cherry Popover Day

We admit that we spent a little money on a few specialized kitchen gadgets and baking pans over the years for fun cooking projects. Highlander bought a cherry pitter so he could make cherry pies with fresh fruit instead of canned filling. Islander bought a popover pan so she could bake popovers for breakfast or brunch. While both items have come in handy, they are not necessary to make cherry popovers. Use a knife to slice the seeds out of the cherries and use a muffin tin/cupcake pan to bake the popovers. The cherry popovers turn out tasty and terrific either way! Prepare some popovers with a fresh cherry filling for National Cherry Popover Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Care2)

 Ingredients

  • 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted
  • ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 ½ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cup milk
  • 3 eggs
  • powdered sugar

Directions

Pit the cherries and set aside. Alternatively, slice out the seeds and dry the cherries with paper towels.

Cherry Popovers

Melt the butter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and milk. Pour in the melted butter and stir until smooth. Beat the eggs into the batter. Fold in the cherries. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Cherry Popovers

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Butter the wells and top of a 6-cup popover pan (or a 12-cup muffin tin/cupcake pan). Fill the wells with the batter about ¾ to the top, leaving room for it to rise and “pop over” the top of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes without opening the oven door, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and invert the popovers onto paper towels to soak up any grease. Arrange them on a plate or bowl and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot.

Cherry Popovers

Notes

  • The batter yields enough for 8 cherry popovers.
  • Instead of cherries, use blueberries as a popover filling. See the sweeter recipe for blueberry popovers on National Blueberry Popover Day on March 10.
  • Try cherry turnovers as an alternative to cherry popovers. See the recipe on National Cherry Turnover Day on August 28.
  • Search our blog for a bunch of other cherry recipes.
 

March 10, 2012

Blueberry Popovers

Posted by HI Cookery under 03 March | Tags: , , , , , |
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Blueberry Popovers

Blueberry Popovers

March 10: National Blueberry Popover Day

Let us call Yorkshire pudding


A fortunate blunder;


It’s a sort of popover

That tripped and popped under.

Ogden Nash

American Poet

August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971

Highlander and his family grew up eating Yorkshire pudding (see our blog recipe post). So Islander baked something similar and slightly sweeter for him to try: blueberry popovers. They are like a cross between a blueberry clafoutis and blueberry muffin (both recipes also have been posted previously on our blog). The blueberry popovers are moist, burst with juicy fruit and have a texture of French toast. They are a nice change for breakfast with a little maple syrup or powdered sugar.  Prepare blueberry popovers for National Blueberry Popover Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Lanier’s Bed and Breakfast)

Ingredients

  • 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 3 eggs

Directions

Wash the blueberries and then place in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over them. Toss with brown sugar and set aside.

Blueberry Popovers

Meanwhile, put a thin slice of butter into the six wells of a popover pan (see Notes). Put in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F and melt but do not brown the butter (about five minutes). Remove from the oven and brush the sides with the melted butter. Keep the pan hot until ready to pour the batter into the wells.

Blueberry Popovers

While the popover pan is heating up in the oven, make the batter. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, milk and eggs until slightly smooth. Divide the batter evenly into the hot popover pan (1/3 to ½ full). Scatter the blueberries evenly in each well over the top of the batter.

Blueberry Popovers

Place in the oven and continue to bake for 20 minutes. The popovers will rise in the pan and seem to pop over the top! When browned, remove from the oven and carefully take them out of the pan. Serve hot.

Blueberry Popovers

Notes 

  • We purchased our popover pan for less than $10 at World Market. They are also available at Williams-Sonoma and other specialty cookware stores at higher prices.
  • Use a muffin or cupcake tin if a popover pan is not available. Oven-safe ramekins are suitable as well.
  • Bake a batch of cherry popovers for National Cherry Popover Day on September 1.
  • Search our blog for more blueberry recipes.