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Lemon Squares
Dena Kleiman, Susan Mahnke Peery
2029 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,029
1 hour
Updated April 30, 2024
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease 10 4-ounce heatproof pottery custard cups (or a muffin or popover pan) with butter. Arrange the cups (or muffin or popover pan) on a baking sheet.
Beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk and melted butter and stir to combine. Gradually stir in the flour and salt. Beat just until the mixture is smooth. Do not overbeat. If the mixture is not smooth, strain it.
Pour the mixture into a pitcher and then pour into the custard cups. Fill the cups almost to the top.
Bake for 50 minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking.
After 50 minutes, remove the popovers from the oven, cut several slits in the top of each and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove the popovers from the cups.
Those of you who have made these....did you use an actual popover pan or a muffin pan? Any comparison between the two or is a popover pan absolutely necessary?
Be careful not to fill the cups TOO high or the melted butter will spill over and create lots of smoke. I'd say filling the cups 3/4 of the way is safe.
My popovers are done in about 35 minutes. Agree with suggestions to make the batter the night before. Side-by-side comparison tests we did at home show overnight batter rises higher. someone smarter than me can tell you why.
I've made this several times and it's always produced beautiful, delicious popovers that are very tall and don't collapse. I'd recommend doubling the recipe since I usually don't get 10 out of it, and since they are so tasty!
Make the batter the night before, preheat the popover pan for even more expansive popovers. Or cook a prime rib and use the drippings to grease a cast iron pan ...you've got Yorkshire pudding!
The recipe calls for salt meaning table salt. Kosher salt is lighter in weight (less salt) than an equivalent volume of table salt. By using kosher salt rather than table salt you baked a popover that needed more salt.
Popover tin is not essential. I used a ramekin for the left over batter (can't let this go to waste!!) and it worked beautifully. The key is to grease it well first.
Does anyone have suggestions for making popovers at high altitude (7000 ft)?
As with croissants, we reheat these and other things by putting them in our electric oven and turning it on to preheat to 350°F. When the preheat "ready" beep goes off, the popovers, croissants, or whatever have been nicely reheated.
This recipe is much fussier than it needs to be. You must use whole milk. The sifting is unnecessary. The beauty of popovers is that they're so easy. The milk and eggs (only 4) should be at room temperature for maximum rise. Combine the ingredients while the pans are heating in the oven.
Every single egg is required for height.
You may have overworked the dough. Just enough stirring will help with loft. Stir too long and the proteins in the flour and eggs becomes over developed which can make for a tougher, denser product.
The Zodiac restaurant at the Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Texas still serves popovers instead of breadrolls before you order. That was started by Helen Corbett, who was the chef there and some have called the Julia Child of American cooking. Once you've had them, you will not forget them. So simple to make.
I love these popovers. Have used ramekins and metal popover pan. I'm not a perfectionist, but both are delicious.
My popovers were DONE in way less than 50 minutes. My oven must run hot. Keep an eye on these babies!
Collective Review from Kids cooking camp:
- A little too eggy
- Good with powdered sugar
- Needed a little more salt
- Good with honey
Preheating cups in oven
I took the time to beat the eggs with a fork as thoroughly as if I were scrambling a custard type breakfast egg - slowly incorporating lots of air. I did sift the flour, stirring in carefully. Consequently the popovers were huge - easily doubled. They were golden and crusty on the outside and tender and moist inside, but very stable.
Delicious. I mixed the batter gently in the blender. I made them a little too late to eat with our meal, so I took them out early - the flavor was great and the texture was like Yorkshire pudding.
If you want the best recipe for popovers look at King Arthur flour's recipes and the hints. The recipe is spot on and the tips on the bottom work. Worth a look and try that recipe. Sorry NYT, I love many of your recipes, but just reading the recipes above, and looking at the pictures, they are far inferior. From a 70 year old who has been making them for at least 50 years. People ask me to make them for special occasions all the time.
I made these for someone with a dairy allergy, and substituted almond milk for the milk and olive oil for the butter, with a little duck fat to grease the pan. The result wasn’t exactly what I expected, the inside texture was a like a moist eggy cake and it didn’t get the huge rise you’d expect with a popover, but it was still really tasty & I would definitely make again. I have some leftover batter & will see tomorrow if that makes a difference in the rise.
I read all the comments and this is what I did for a perfect result: For 6 popovers, exactly 1/2 the recipe. Whole milk, bleach flour sifted in a colander and then measured. Quickly whisked mixture in 4-cup measuring cup. No straining. Refrigerated 3 hours. Heated oven. Put a dab of butter in each popover cup and put into oven. Swirled butter and poured in mixture. 30 minutes slit and baked another 5-10 minutes. Very pleased with myself!
You can make the big batch and then use 1/3 at a time (store the rest of the batter in the fridge for other nights) for 4 popovers per divided batch. We always say just one, but fresh yummy popovers. Maybe I should save/make in 2 popover portions for 1 each!
I strained the lumps but that meant most of the flour stayed in the strainer. I smashed them and stirred them in, but this was truly a pain. The other half of the batter I buzzed in a blender. They didn't rise. The first ones were perfect. Any ideas of how to get the lumps out to begin with? I used a whisk like usual. Some recipes recommend letting the batter sit for quite awhile before baking. Thanks for any suggestions. I have though of sifting the flour in.
Can someone explain how to grease the popover tins beforehand and also preheat them in the oven? Or do you let the oil/butter in the pan substitute for greasing? And do you pour out the oil/butter before adding batter? I have made similar varieties many times and made many many flops, so I want to get this right.
let the pan get hot, then I use a bit of (not a bunch) cooking spray, then a measuring cup to pour batter in 1/2 way. I have a great pan from King Arthur and I think that helps a lot
Half a recipe was the right amount for a 12 cup cast iron muffin pan. Filled about 2/3 full, based on comments, and put pan on a baking sheet in case the butter (in my case) dripped over.
I'm excited to try this six egg recipe. I've been making popovers with only three eggs for twenty-five years and they're fine - so if you only have three, fear not - it can be done! I use skim milk and have quit preheating my pan - they are fine without it and I burn the butter half the time.
Could someone clarify this for a non-baker? "Beat just until the mixture is smooth. Do not overbeat. If the mixture is not smooth, strain it." Soooo ... when do you give up on beating to smoothness and strain instead? Is "overbeating" definable up front, or just in hindsight when your outcome is bad? And if you do strain, do you then break up the lumps and add the ingredients back in? Or just do without the flour (presumably) that was making the batter lumpy? Thank you!
Popover pans make the popovers big. This recipe is the best one I have found. It fills 6 popovers with each pan , so you have 12 with two popover muffin pans.
To reheat, place on oven, turn on heat to 350, when beeper goes off for temperature reached-popovers will be warm.
Preheat pan + oil in oven
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