This is a perfect weekend breakfast. It's indulgent, not tricky to make, and reasonably healthy. Popovers are so much fun to bake. I love peeking into the oven and watching them pop up. The recipe is so simple and they always turn out.
We usually eat these plain for breakfast, maybe with a little honey drizzle. But that big hole in the middle and their neutral custard flavor are begging for a filling.
I saw a recipe on tv for french toast with caramel apple sauce. This seemed a bit too rich but I tried the caramel sauce with apples cooked in it. It did not go well. The apples were mushy and the sauce got too thin from all that fruit juice. I kept working on the caramel sauce and decided that crunchy raw apples chopped small would be better. If I'm being completely honest I have to admit that I made not one, not two or three, but let's just say about five caramels before I got it right. However, it was all in the name of perfecting the recipe to share with you. The husband wasn't complaining as each batch needed to be tasted and sampled.
For the popovers you will need:
A blender
well greased muffin pans
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons melted butter (use real butter or don't bother making them)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Dump everything in the blender and whir it up. Scrape down the sides and make sure it's well combined. Pour the batter into very well greased muffin pans. It's so frustrating to crush your popovers trying to pry them from the pan if they stick. Spray the pans, then spray them again, and maybe once more just to be sure. They will rise higher if plenty of hot air can circulate around each one, so only use the outside edges of the pan as shown in the picture.
You will need one 12 muffin pan and one 6 muffin pan. Fill the cups about 3/4 full. Let them bake for 20 to 30 minutes until they are puffed and golden brown.
While they are baking you can make the caramel sauce. You will need:
a heavy, thick saucepan
a whisk and a wooden or heat resistant spoon
a large bowl of ice water
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cream
Make sure you have everything ready and no small children underfoot before you start making caramel. The sugar gets VERY hot and will cause a bad burn if you splash or drip it. Never ever use your finger to test it, even when it's on a spoon. If you do get some hot sugar on you (!) dunk the burn into the bowl of ice water (don't stick that burned finger in your mouth or you'll toast your tongue too).
This recipe is for a 'dry' caramel. I like the method because it's faster. Place the sugar in your pan over medium heat. Pick up the pan and swirl it around every once in a while. You will see the sugar melt and brown around the edges and in the middle.
You can start stirring now. The sugar needs to stay in an even layer on the bottom of the pan so that it will melt evenly. Once all the sugar is melted and it begins to boil, stop stirring and go back to swirling until you've reached the color you want.
Caramel should be dark golden brown, but some people like it a little lighter or darker. Begin adding the butter in pieces and whisk briskly. Be careful because it will foam up and spit at you. Keep adding and stirring until all the butter is incorporated.
Once all the butter is whisked in, take the pan off the heat and count to three. Then add the cream slowly in a stream while continuing to stir. Keep stirring until it's all incorporated and creamy. You can pour this into a heat proof jar or bowl to let it cool. It will be fine in the refrigerator for a week or two. This recipe will give a thick sauce. If you'd like it thinner and richer you can increase the butter amount to 6 tablespoons and the cream to 1/2 cup. By the way, half and half does not work. I tried it and tried it, then finally bought some heavy cream.
The popovers should be done by this time. Take them out of the pans and slice up the apples. Make them small bite size so they'll fit into the shells. Fill the popovers with apples and then drizzle them with warm caramel sauce. You will love this breakfast! The crisp apples, silky rich sauce and popover shell all go beautifully together.
The recipe for popovers is from The French Chef with Julia Child. The caramel recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes.
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