# Sweet Poppovers with Reduced Cream and Pears



## purple.alien.giraffe (Oct 6, 2013)

This ended up being really good. The popovers were sweet but not overly  so, the reduced cream was super rich and smooth, the pears were spiced  but not overly so, and the three worked really well together. I used a  12 hole muffin tin and the size ended up being just right, not too  little not too big. 

Pictures to follow after recipe (they're on my phone and I'm currently on the computer).

*Reduced Cream* (Start this first, it takes a while and can sit in the fridge until needed.)

Pour  1 pint heavy cream into pot. Start burner on lowest setting and adjust  as needed. You want the cream to just barely steam. You'll want to stir  it occasionally and when the skin on the top gets kind of thick you'll  want to skim it off. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get it reduced. I  stired it about every 10 - 15 minutes. 

I ended up with cream  that was thicker and richer but didn't taste "cooked", which is why I  went with this method. There were others that were quicker but all used a  higher heat and that wasn't what I was looking for. I managed to find  cream that was just pasturized, not ultra pasturized. When I looked up  the various methods for reducing cream they all said to use unpasturized  or pasturized, but not ultra pasturized. No idea how well it would work  with ultra pasturized.

Once the cream is reduced by about half  you can move it to a bowl and place in the fridge. I've seen sites  mention that if you place plastic wrap directly on cream, milk, pudding  and such it will keep it from forming a skin so I did that. No idea if  it would have formed one without it or been fine but it definitely  didn't form one with the plastic wrap. The cream can hang out in the  fridge at this point until you need it.

Just before using the cream beat it with a whisk or mixer until very frothy and slightly thickened, but still liquid.

*Sweetened Popovers*

4 large eggs into a measuring cup (this ended up being a little over 3/4 of a cup)
Equal volume flour to eggs
Equal volume milk to eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tblsp powdered/confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp salt

In  medium size bowl mix together flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Add the  eggs and vanilla and, using a whisk, mix until you form a think batter.  Add a little milk and mix. Add a little more and mix. Continue until all  milk is added and batter is smooth. Beat with whisk until slightly  frothy. Set aside for 15 - 20 minutes (now would be a good time to make  the pears).

Pre-heat the oven to 450F. Once the batter has rested  put 1 tsp cooking oil in each hole of a twelve hole muffin tin. Place  pan with oil in the heated oven for 2 - 3 minutes until oil and pan are  hot. Quickly add batter to the pan filling each hole about 1/3 of the  way. Put pan back in oven and bake about 15 minutes or until bowned.  Remove from pan and repeat process until all batter is used. 

I found it was easiest to let them cool a little and remove them  from the holes with a fork. They did stick just slightly but I'm pretty  sure it's just because our muffin tin is kind of old. Working them loose  with a fork seemed to work really well. 

I ended up only using 4  of the holes for the second batch (making a total of 16 popovers). The  pan did smoke a little during the second time putting it in. I thought  about filling the empty holes with a little water but wasn't sure if  that would affect the ability of the popovers to cook properly.

*Spiced Pears*

4 ripe pears (I used 2 red pears and 2 comice pears)
1 tblsp packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tblsp butter

Wash  pears and then quarter them. Core the quarters and then slice them into  thin (about 1/8 inch) slices. Heat butter in heavy bottomed sauce pan  over medium to medium high heat. Add the pears and cook, stiring  regularly. When they begin to soften add the brown sugar and spices. 

Continue  cooking, stiring regularly, until pears are juicey and to desired  doneness. When I removed them from the heat the red pears were hot but  still firm. Some of the slices of comice had broken up a little and some  were still whole but they were all soft. This made a really nice  texture and the flavor was great.

*Final Assembly*

Once  all parts are finished it's time to assemble them. Place a popover onto  a plate or in a bowl. Fill the "cup" of the popover about 1/3 of the  way with the cream. Fill it the rest of the way with the pears, letting  them overflow just a little. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.

And now you are finally done and can eat it (which really is the best part). 

I  know it sounds like a lot of work but it wasn't bad. The pears and  popovers didn't actually take that long to make, maybe 45 minutes  combined because I did the pears while the popover batter rested and  they cooked quickly. I've made pies that took much longer to make. The  cream does take a long time but since I didn't have to stand there the  whole time I could do other things while letting it reduce so it wasn't  that bad and whipping it just before serving doesn't take long. 

Overall  I'm pretty thrilled with this little experiment but if anyone has any  suggestions I will definitely welcome them. Desserts are one of the  areas I know the least about. This was all new stuff for me so tips from  pros/the experienced are definitely welcome.


----------



## purple.alien.giraffe (Oct 6, 2013)

And the pictures. The lighting isn't very good but I promise they were purdy in person.


----------



## FrankZ (Oct 7, 2013)

Looks good.  I might just have to give this a go at some point.


----------



## PrincessFiona60 (Oct 7, 2013)

Those look Fabulous PAG!


----------



## Whiskadoodle (Oct 7, 2013)

You make this sound easy.  

I Finally made good/ not burned Popovers.   Up until recent, it's been Oven's choice, cook doesn't get a vote.    I always made popovers in cupcake pans.    Spacing the batter in every other hole so there was expansion room.  My DxW even found an old recipe card we used Successfully 40 some years ago.    One time I baked on the top oven rack and they hit the roof.   One time I put two muffin tins in the oven side by side and they were touching each other, apparently this conducts more heat to the pans and they got too hot and burned.   One time I think they burned purely out of spite.   Now, none of this would be so bad,  except I only make popovers for a special occasion or when we have friends over for dinner.   I bought regular popover pans and this seems to solve existing problems.  Of course,  I learned from my other mistakes not to repeat whatever action occurred.  Making popovers is not and should not be difficult.   

You bring popovers to a new level.  I like that.


----------



## purple.alien.giraffe (Oct 7, 2013)

Whiskadoodle said:


> You make this sound easy.
> 
> I Finally made good/ not burned Popovers.   Up until recent, it's been Oven's choice, cook doesn't get a vote.    I always made popovers in cupcake pans.    Spacing the batter in every other hole so there was expansion room.  My DxW even found an old recipe card we used Successfully 40 some years ago.    One time I baked on the top oven rack and they hit the roof.   One time I put two muffin tins in the oven side by side and they were touching each other, apparently this conducts more heat to the pans and they got too hot and burned.   One time I think they burned purely out of spite.   Now, none of this would be so bad,  except I only make popovers for a special occasion or when we have friends over for dinner.   I bought regular popover pans and this seems to solve existing problems.  Of course,  I learned from my other mistakes not to repeat whatever action occurred.  Making popovers is not and should not be difficult.
> 
> You bring popovers to a new level.  I like that.



We are fortunate to have an oven that is dead accurate and consistant in temperature. We've tested it with an oven thermometer. I do find that for some reason things cook more quickly in it than instructions generally state. The first time I baked something in it I was making brownies and they smelled done 10 minutes before they were supposed to be. I hesitated for a few minutes and then trusted my instincts (which were screaming at me) and tested them. Good thing because they were done. Slightly over-done actually. Lesson learned, if they smell done check.


----------

