With multiple Christmas gatherings, the holiday season is a crazy busy time for Marissa Durazzo, Marketing and Communications Director. To maintain calmness, she escapes to the kitchen for some kitchen therapy to bake her popovers. She builds gift baskets filled with freshly baked popovers, a popover pan and her recipe and brings them to holiday parties as hostess gifts.

There’s something satisfying about watching these “pop” up in the oven while baking (she leaves the oven light on to watch the show!). They bake perfectly in a Wolf Convection Steam Oven but also works well in a conventional oven. Marissa enjoys them as a sweet treat with maple butter (recipe included) but also as a savory treat – along with prime rib and all the fixings during her annual New Year’s Day dinner – they’re perfect for dipping in gravy or au jus. Sweet or savory, as gifts or a personal treat – these popovers are poppin’!

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs (room temperature or warmed in a shallow bowl of hot water for 10 minutes)
  • 1 ½ cups of lukewarm milk (low fat or non-fat are fine to use, don’t use nut milk)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons of melted butter

Maple Butter (optional)

  • 8 tablespoons of unsalted softened butter
  • 3 tablespoons of maple syrup (honey can be substituted)
  • Mix or beat all ingredients until all are well combined

Recipe

  1. Conventional Oven – Preheat to 450 and move rack to the lowest shelf (to allow for the popovers rising). Make sure to preheat for at least 10 minutes.

Wolf Convection Steam Oven – Heat to 425 and set to Convection Steam.

  1. Use a standard 12-cup metal muffin tin (cups should be 2 ½ wide x 1 ½ deep or use a popover pan. Grease the pan as well as the areas in between the cups (cooking spray works best).
  2. Use a wire whisk to beat together the eggs, milk and salt. Make sure everything is well combined, with no streaks of yolks showing.
  3. Add the flour and beat with wire whisk until frothy; there should be no large lumps of four.
  4. Quickly stir in the melted butter.
  5. Carefully fill the muffin tins or popover pan to about ¾ full. Be careful not to overfill since the batter may drip to the bottom of the oven while baking.
  6. For conventional oven – Bake the popovers for 20 minutes at 450 without opening the oven door. Then lower to 350 for an additional 10-15 minutes until they’re deep, golden brown (about 13 minutes in a Wolf Convection Steam Oven).                                                                                                                                      A. If you plan on serving the popovers immediately, remove them from the oven and stick the tip of a knife into the top of each, to release steam and help prevent sogginess.                                                            B.If you want the popovers to hold their shape longer without deflating, bake them for an additional 5 minutes (for a total of 40 minutes). This will make them a bit sturdier.
  7. For the Wolf Convection Steam Oven – Bake the popovers for 20 minutes at 425 without opening the oven door. Then lower to 325 for an additional 12-13 minutes. These popovers will hold their shape, no need for steps A and B above.