Pursuing Popover Perfection

Popovers are a household name in Annapolis thanks to the award-winning restaurant below the Maryland Inn.

If you've never had a famous popover from the Treaty of Paris... well, let's just say if you have, then you know. Gigantic in size, perfectly crispy and brown on the outside, delicate and flakey on the inside, and amazingly hollow, the Treaty of Paris's popovers are a little slice of Yorkshire Pudding heaven. The only drawback to these souffle-like treats is that you can only get them when you sit down to a full meal at the four-star restaurant. Unfortunately, one cannot obtain the popovers by themselves.

Which is why I'm on a mission to try and accomplish the same amazing success of the chefs at Treaty of Paris. Short of convincing them to hand out what I'm sure is a secret recipe (which, let's face it, is not going to happen), I'm hoping to come darn-near close to popover perfection.

The journey started tonight, with my very first attempted batch of popovers. Okay, I did cheat a little with the nifty six-cup popover pan we got as a wedding gift. I used the simple 1-1-2 recipe and bam: some really decent popovers.

An avid fan, the husband was all too happy to dig in with me. We devoured one with butter and one with jam, both options equally yum. But something was missing. Obviously not satisfied with minor success at my very first try, I decided to do some research as to how to make a better popover. What I found out via message boards and food blogs is that apparently popovers are tricky creatures, temperamental and hard to make. Well, the first attempt didn't seem too hard: mix eggs, flour, milk, and salt, two oven temperatures, absolutely no opening the oven door and done. I didn't even poke them when they came out of the oven and they still stayed risen.

The Britons and their yorkshire pudding swore by the 'bubbling butter in the preheated pan adding chilled batter' method, so I set out to give it a try... forgetting, of course, that butter would certainly burn at 450 degrees, especially if it bubbled over the side of the pan and dripped to the oven floor. One smoking oven, smoky apartment, and loud smoke alarm wailing at midnight with perturbed neighbors later, I finally realized my mistake.

Bookmarked on my computer is a recipe using canola oil instead, which, lacking milk solids, should not give way to smoking as easily. After a thorough oven cleaning, I will try again. After all, you gotta get back on the horse. I'll keep you posted.

Do you have a family secret or tip for perfect popovers?

Your Annapolitan,

Amanda

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