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Pop Overs
— Mrs. J. Arch. Hay
One cup of milk, one egg, one cup of flour, one salt spoon of salt. Beat and bake three-quarters of an hour in a hot oven.
— Mrs. E. S. Root
A three-ingredient batter that relies entirely on steam for its lift, so the handling matters more than the proportions. The measurements are all straightforward once the salt spoon is translated.
- Salt spoonA salt spoon holds about 1/4 teaspoon. That is right for a cup of flour; the batter should taste faintly seasoned, not salty.
- A hot ovenUsually taken today as somewhere around 425-450F, though the receipt gives no temperature. Popovers need the initial blast to flash the liquid into steam before the crust sets; a moderate oven gives flat, eggy pucks.
- The pan the receipt assumesNo pan is named. Cast-iron gem pans and earthenware cups were both in use for batters of this kind. Any heavy muffin tin or popover pan works; heating it empty first and greasing it well is the usual modern practice.
- Beat means beatWhisk the egg and milk together, then add the flour and beat until entirely smooth and about the consistency of heavy cream. Lumps and unincorporated flour will work against a good rise.
- Three-quarters of an hourLonger than most current recipes, but not wrong for a full-sized popover: the shell has to dry out or it will sink. Common modern practice is 20 minutes hot, then 20-25 minutes at 350F to finish drying without scorching.
- Do not open the ovenThe single instruction the original leaves out. Opening the door in the first 25 minutes drops the temperature and the risen batter falls.
- YieldOne cup each of milk and flour with one egg fills about six standard muffin cups or four deep popover cups. Fill them a little over half full.
- Serve at onceThey deflate as they cool. Pierce each one with a knife tip as it comes out to let the steam escape if you cannot get them to the table immediately.
Popovers are the American descendant of the English batter pudding baked in the drippings under a roast -- the same family as Yorkshire pudding, but baked in individual cups and eaten with butter rather than gravy. The name is generally traced to the way the batter pops over the rim of its cup as it rises, though this is traditional explanation rather than documented etymology, and the word appears in American cookbooks over the second half of the nineteenth century. Its presence in a village fundraising collection like this one is typical: the receipt is short enough to recite from memory and costs almost nothing.