Is sourdough popovers the best way to make use of the sourdough starter you have to discard?
It may be.
I have published a couple of recipes where starter discard can be used, like churros, crackers, and puff pastry. But I wonder if this is not one of my favorites.
They are not more complicated to do than pancakes. The result is a small miracle.
No yeast or baking soda is required. The discard can be a week old it doesn’t matter. Somehow the popovers manage to rise right up in the air to incredible volumes.
How is that possible?
What happens is the egg and flour creates a crust on the surface very quickly, but there is still lots of liquid below. And when the liquid gets hot, it generates steam, expanding in volume. And the only way to expand is upwards, bringing the crust an everything with it.
These sourdough popovers can be varied endlessly. You can brush them with butter an roll them in sugar. Or why not mix some of you’re favorite cheese and chive into the batter.
I will leave to you to decide what kind of flavoring you want, and give you a recipe for natural sourdough popovers.
HEAT UP THE OVEN
Start by preheating the oven to 450°F/230°C together with a muffin pan.
Mix the popover batter while you’re waiting for the oven to get hot
As mentioned earlier, it’s not more complicated than to make pancake batter.
Whisk together eggs, milk, and sourdough starter. Add flour and whisk until everything has combined. That’s it.
Take out the muffin pan and brush half of the cups generously with melted butter. Make sure there are an empty cups between each popover, so they have lots of space to expand.
Fill the cups almost up to the top and return the pan into the oven.
AND UP IN THE AIR THEY GO
First, there is nothing. After a while, you will see that a crust takes shape on the surface. And after that everything starts to rise right up in the air.
Now you just have to wait until the popovers are fully “popped”, and are golden brown.
Don’t open the oven lid too early, or your popovers may collapse. It’s better to lower the heat and bake for a few additional minutes.
Take out the pan when the popovers are ready. Let them cool for a couple of minutes or until you can handle them.
Are they sour?
Well, that depends on the status of your starter. If you haven’t fed it for a couple of weeks and it smells like turpentine, you may notice that in the popovers. The starter I used was one week old, and I could taste the tang but it was not particularly strong. Perhaps I can use more starter next time.
Sourdough popovers
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 150 gram milk I used whole milk
- 70 gram sourdough starter discard
- 85 gram Wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C together with a muffin pan.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and sourdough starter. Add flour and whisk until everything has combined.
- Take out the muffin pan and brush half of the cups generously with melted butter. Make sure there are an empty cups between each popover, so they have lots of space to expand. Fill the cups almost up to the top and return the pan into the oven.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the popovers are fully "popped", and are golden brown.
- Let the popovers cool for a couple of minutes and serve immediately.
8 Comments
These sound lovely. I adore the puff pastry made with leftover starter. How would you serve these popovers please? I’m not at all familiar with them. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them here. (Australia)
I have to admit that this is a new experience for me as well. I know that they are popular for breakfast. But being raised in Sweden it almost feels controversial. Since I was a kid I have been taught that eating anything excepts oatmeal porridge or müsli with rye bread for breakfast is totally unacceptable. Therefore, I will probably do just that this weekend. I think they will be great with butter and marmalade and a cup of coffee.
I also think you can serve them instead of dinner rolls on the Buffet table. Or perhaps brush them with butter an roll them in sugar as a dessert.
Howdy, I have tried most of your offerings and love them Really love them! But I just tried the popovers and they did not puff up at all. My starter was smelling good and looking good but what went wrong. Also your receipt did not state when to add salt so I may have blown the process that way. HELP. Keep up the great work and thanks.
Bruce M in Washington state USA
Hi Bruce,
You are right. I forgot about the salt. Sorry about that. It’s added with the rest of the ingredients. I will correct the recipe.
But I don’t understand why your popovers don’t rise. The status of your starter has nothing to do with it. it’s not the starter that makes the rise. It’s the steam created and trapped under the crust. You see, the egg an flour mixed in the batter will create a crust very quickly on the surface. However, under the crust, there is still lots of liquid that creates steam when heated. The steam is trapped in the cup and under the crust and can only go upwards, taking the crust and everything with it.
Are you sure you haven’t forgotten an ingredient?
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll try again and be double sure to check ingredients as I go. The flavor was perfect.
Keep giving us ‘hopeful sourdough wanna-be’ bakers, motivation to keep on cooking.
Thank’s for the kind words, Bruce. Please tell me about your result.
Can you use spelt flour in place of the wheat?
I suppose so, Amy. I have not tried Spelt for this recipe myself, but I can’t see why I shouldn’t work.