How To Make the Best Popover Recipe - Through Her Looking Glass (2024)

This Jordan Pond House Best Popover recipe is sure to be a hit at your house! These popovers are known regionally as the best popovers in all of New England. If you’ve never tried a popover before, you’re in for a real treat.

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How To Make the Best Popover Recipe - Through Her Looking Glass (1)

What Are Popovers?

A popover is a light, fluffy muffin made from a thin eggy batter that rises to form a hollow shell when baked. That airy shell is typically served hot and slathered with butter and strawberry jam.

You can easily buy an expensive gourmet popover baking mix, but since there are only 5 ingredients — flour, milk, eggs, salt, and baking soda — why not make your own? The taste is just as delicious, and popovers are so easy to make.

The baking technique for making popovers is a crucial element to this recipe. There’s lots of beating with your electric hand mixer. And absolutely no opening the oven door and peeking! This could cause the popovers to deflate, similar to a soufflé.

How To Make the Best Popover Recipe - Through Her Looking Glass (2)

The Famous Jordan Pond House at Acadia National Park

If you’ve ever visited the Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, you likely know about theJordan Pond House — a lovely tea house on Park Loop Road inside the park.

Jon and I visited Acadia National Park and TheJordan Pond House seven summers ago when we spent a romantic long weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine, celebrating our anniversary. We stayed at the Primrose Inn in Bar Harbor, which is a gorgeous 1878 Victorian-era bed & breakfast. Acadia National Park is a stunning park with beautiful trails, mountain vistas, and incredible views.

On our way home from the long weekend, we stopped at The Jordan Pond House for popovers and a glass of iced tea. They serve afternoon tea with popovers every day from 11:30-5:30. Weheard about the popovers over the weekend. And after savoring one, we “popped” into the gift shop to buy a popover pan that includedthe famousJordan Pond House “Best Popover Recipe.”

These popovers are known regionally asthe best popovers in New England, and they’re not hard to make. Just follow the easy directions below from “The Story of Jordan Pond,” published by the Acadia Corporation.

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Key Ingredients

You only need 5 ingredients to make the best popovers ever at home! As far as dry ingredients go, you’ll need to sift together all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. For the wet ingredients, all you need is whole milk and room temperature eggs. That’s all!

How To Make the Best Homemade Popovers

These popovers take less than an hour to make, and only require 5 simple ingredients that you probably have in your pantry right now. So, get to baking!

  1. In a large bowl, add the eggs and mix at a high speed until they are doubled in size, which should be around 2-3 minutes. You want to incorporate a lot of air into the eggs (especially the egg white) so that the batter is light and fluffy. Once the eggs are whipped, turn the speed down. Pour the milk in, and whisk until everything is fully incorporated.
  2. Continue mixing, and add the sifted dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda). Once everything is mixed well, but not overly so or to the point that the whipped eggs have deflated, add the remaining milk, and continue whisking for another minute.
  3. Grease the muffin pan, and add it into the 425 degrees F oven to preheat for 5 minutes. While the pan is preheating, strain the batter to prevent lumps, and then divide the mixture equally into the muffin pan.
  4. Bake in the middle shelf for 15 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 350 F. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, then carefully remove from the muffin tin, and serve warm with softened butter and jam. Enjoy!

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Tips and Tricks

  • Popover pans can be substituted with a regular muffin pan, but there will be a slight difference in the height of the popovers since the muffin pan is shorter.
  • Have your eggs sitting at room temperature for at least an hour before mixing the batter for best results.
  • To get a smooth batter, sift the flour before mixing it into the eggs. And also, strain the batter before adding it to the muffin pans.
  • Avoid opening the oven in the first 15 minutes so the popovers get the right form and texture.

What To Serve with Popovers

Popovers are traditionally served warm or hot with butter and strawberry jam. They can also be served savory with butter, sliced ham or turkey, or even taco filling. They can be served sweet with Nutella, chocolate ganache, sweet marscarpone, or pie filling.

More Baked Goods Recipes To Try

  • Fresh Strawberry Crepes
  • Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
  • Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
  • Birthday Cupcakes
  • Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

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Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Jordan Pond House Best Popover Recipe

Best popover recipe in all of New England! Light and airy. Traditionally served hot with butter and jam.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Author: Allie Taylor

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Speck of baking soda

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425°.

  • Sift and measure flour, salt and soda. Set aside.

  • Beat the eggs at high speed until lemon colored (2-3 minutes).

  • On slowest speed, very slowly 1/2 cup of the milk. Beat until well mixed.

  • Add slowly (with mixer going on slow speed) the dry ingredients.

  • When mixed, stop beating.

  • Scrape sides of the bowl with a spatula.

  • Beat at medium speed and slowly add the remaining milk.

  • Beat 2 minutes.

  • Place well-greased muffin tin or popover pan into oven to warm up for five minutes.

  • Turn mixer to high speed and beat 5-7 minutes.

  • Batter should be smooth and about the thickness of heavy cream.

  • Pour batter through a strainer, and into well-greased, preheated muffin tins or popover pan.

  • Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven at 425° for the first 15 minutes.

  • Without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350° and bake 15 - 20 minutes longer.

  • Popovers are best served at once, but may be kept in the warm oven for up to five minutes.

  • Serve immediately with butter and strawberry jam.

How To Make the Best Popover Recipe - Through Her Looking Glass (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good popovers? ›

My biggest tip for creating perfect popovers is to use warm milk and room-temperature eggs with absolutely no chill on them. Do not take the milk and eggs from the fridge and use them. Cold ingredients will give you dense popovers. Warm ingredients will give you light, airy, and perfect popovers.

Why aren t my popovers airy? ›

Popover rule #2: Use all-purpose flour

The gluten in flour (and protein from the eggs) create the structure that traps steam in rising popovers. Without this structure, steam will escape like air from a punctured balloon, and your popovers will puddle, not pop.

Why do popovers fail? ›

Thin mixtures made weak popovers that couldn't contain their steam, while thick mixtures never generated enough steam for lift. As a kid, I had measured my flour by volume, so I was probably adding subtly different amounts each time, which led to the occasional failure.

Does popover batter need to rest? ›

Whisk in the butter, and let the batter rest for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the little lumps will have risen to the top. Give the batter a few more good licks with the whisk to recombine. Grease a standard muffin tin.

What are two reasons for failure of popovers to pop? ›

Best to use all warm ingredients in the 40-50 degrees celsius (100-120 fahrenheit) range. There are two major possible causes that seem likely: The oven was not hot enough. Popovers require a fast rise, so that they can expand from the steam before the outside sets.

Is it necessary to poke the popover when it comes out of the oven? ›

Remove from oven:

Popovers lose their crunch if they linger in the pan, so turn them out on a wire rack immediately and poke a small opening in the side of each with a paring knife to let the steam escape.

What type of flour is best for popovers? ›

using room temperature eggs (see recipe for how to quickly bring your eggs to room temperature) room temperature milk (see recipe for how to quickly bring your milk to room temperature) hot oven. bread or all-purpose flour: for especially loft popovers, bread flour is your gal!

How to keep popovers from deflating? ›

Popovers are best served immediately. They will, unfortunately, begin to collapse after a few minutes outside of the oven. One way to help prevent this is to puncture the top and/or side of the popover with the tip of a small, sharp knife to help release some of the steam trapped inside.

What is the best popover pan? ›

Chicago Metallic 6-Cup Popover Pan, Non-Stick

This pan had the perfect cups: slightly flared with high sides and narrow bases that encouraged tall, proud popovers. A dark finish gave it an edge as darker pans absorb heat more efficiently, exactly what popovers need to pop up.

Should popover batter be room temperature or cold? ›

Beat till smooth and frothy; leave some lumps. Everything should be at room temperature.

Does popover batter keep? ›

Check out the tips below to keep your popovers fresh. To make ahead: You can make the batter and refrigerate it for up to one day before baking.

Why are popovers doughy? ›

SF Gate claims that if your bakes are flat and dense, rather than tall and puffy, you must adjust your ingredient ratios. Usually, the batter consists of a simple egg, milk, and flour mix but if you add too much flour, the batter will be too dense and your popovers won't have the power to rise.

How to tell when popovers are done? ›

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 15 minutes more, or until popovers are puffed and browned. Do not check popovers until they have baked for a total of 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and serve hot.

Why do popover batters contain so much liquid? ›

Why do popover batters contain so much liquid? It allows the popovers to be leavened with steam, creating the characteristic large cavity in the center. It also allows gelatinization of the starch during baking, which is indicated in part by the soft, gel-like texture in the inside walls of a baked popover.

Should a popover have a close button? ›

Use a Close button for confirmation and guidance only.

A Close button, including Cancel or Done, is worth including if it provides clarity, like exiting with or without saving changes. Otherwise, a popover generally closes when people click or tap outside its bounds or select an item in the popover.

How to prevent popovers from collapsing? ›

If you don't want your beautiful popovers to collapse, simply use a sharp paring knife and pierce the bottom of the hot popovers to allow steam to escape and place them on a cooling rack. Do not let them cool in the pan, they'll lose their shape.

What is the best grease for a popover pan? ›

Grease the cups of a nonstick (6-cup) popover pan very generously with softened butter or the cups of a cast-iron pan generously with vegetable shortening.

How to stop popovers from sticking? ›

—H.B., Boston, Massachusetts For best results, use a heavy metal popover pan rather than muffin tins or custard cups. Lightly grease the popover cups, then dust with flour, sugar or grated Parmesan cheese.

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