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Popovers are so much fun to watch bake as they poof up and rise way above the pan, leaving an airy open center. But, don't open the oven while they are baking. Be patient and if you have a glass window in your oven, you can see them rise! Once you take them out of the oven and they begin to cool, they settle back down into a spongy texture. If you prefer to keep them open, airy, and crispier, then poke a little air hole in the top of each popover as soon as you take them out of the oven to allow the steam to escape. If they do collapse, don't worry at all, because the texture of the inside is a delicious spongy bread that soaks up the strawberry juices and cream in this recipe.
You'll need a non-stick muffin tin or an actual popover tin, which is available at most kitchen stores. The popover pan allows for more air to circulate around the batter than a muffin tin, but I find that a well-greased non-stick muffin tin works very well too.
Popovers are very versatile and can be made with cheese and savory spice blends or left plain and scooped up with your favorite jam for breakfast. We've made them with Parmesan, salt, and pepper to use as dinner rolls and they are fantastic and light.
Strawberries and chocolate pair so well together, so I made our simple dark chocolate sauce to drizzle over the top of everything!
Popover Strawberry Shortcake
(Makes 6 Servings)
INGREDIENTS
Popovers
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. vegetable or extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Strawberries
2 pints strawberries, stems removed and sliced
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
Using an electric beater, or your standing mixer, whip cream to stiff peaks. Fold in the yogurt, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Chocolate Sauce
10 oz. dark or bittersweet chocolate chips (or bars, cut up)
1/4 cup light agave syrup
1/3 cup water (+/-)
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract
In a saucepan, melt chocolate along with agave and water. Whisk until smooth and stir in vanilla extract.
DIRECTIONS
Popovers
Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare your muffin or popover tin by rubbing the entire inside of the cups with a thin layer of butter. Then, spray them with cooking spray. This will really help to get them out of the pan more easily. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs until well blended. Whisk in milk, oil and salt and stir well. Slowly whisk in the flour and continue to whisk well until blended and smooth.
Pour batter into prepared tins and fill to about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until popovers are super puffy, tall, and are golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately poke a little hole in the top of the popover with a long toothpick or small knife to allow the steam to release. This will keep your popovers from collapsing. Cool completely.
While the popovers are baking, it's a great time to clean and slice the strawberries, whip the cream, and make the chocolate sauce. Then, you'll be all ready to serve as soon as the popovers are baked and cooled.
When ready to serve, you can open up the top of the popover to fill it with the sliced berries, or simply serve the berries over the top. Either way, put a dollop of the yogurt-whipped cream both under and over the top of the berries. Arrange a sliced berry on top and drizzle chocolate sauce over the top of everything.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA