The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Simple Pleasures

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Simple Pleasures

This morning I awoke from the late night movie my daughter and I stayed up watching, with a desire for something special. My wife is in town at her mothers overnight so she can save us some money at a special garage sale early this morning, so it's just daughter and dad. Good bonding time for both of us. I decided to whip up a quick batch of popovers or Yorkshire pudding as some call them. We usually have them with dinner but I recall hearing they are good with jam also. Here are my results.


Standing on edge to cool slightly.


Baked boldly brown


Just delicious with Plum Jam from my friend Audra.

As an aside for those who are thinking about food photography, these photos were taken with the cold gray diffused light from a North window and the help of a little fill flash on the crumb shot. Otherwise, simple daylight. No photoshopping other than sizing.

00Eve00's picture
00Eve00

They look lovely.  Both the popovers and the photography.  It makes me want to try my hand at making popovers.  I've actually never even eaten one.

Thanks for sharing!

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

The photos are great too!  I love the colors.   Yumm, fresh homemade jam to boot.  Does using a 'fill' flash mean you used a 'regular' flash setting?  I'm certainly no camera pro :) Beautiful, popovers to share with your daughter!

Sylvia

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Sylvia,

The term "Fill Flash" is meant to describe adding a less than full force flash to a shot for the purposes of lessening shadows, improving the color quality or lowering the shutter speed. In this case, the last two are improvements I wanted.

Many cameras have settings to control the amount of flash power regardless of the amount required for a perfect exposure. In this case I set the flash to fire at 50% power. You can see the reflection on the glossy spots and the increased sharpness and crisp colors.

Thanks for your comments. They were delicious.

Eric

wally's picture
wally

I love good popovers, Eric, and looking at your pictures I'm wondering why I don't bake them more often.  Just delicious looking!  Great idea for dad-daughter bonding!

Larry

ehanner's picture
ehanner

So simple, I just use a whisk and a larger than normal ss bowl. It wakes me up. Thanks for your thoughts.

Eric

qahtan's picture
qahtan

 Nice looking Popovers/Yorkshires.

My mum used to like currants mixed into the batter,, myself I like lots of lovely beef gravy... ;-)))),,,,,, qahtan

                         

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I'm with you on the beef gravy. Currents in the batter sounds interesting too. I'll have to try that. This morning my hand was twitching every time a passed the spice cabinet. A little thyme would be nice.

Eric

audra36274's picture
audra36274

cooling. They rose majesticly then ....fell over. Glad you enjoyed the jam though!

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Hi audra, Try cutting a very small slit on top as soon as they come out of the oven to let the steam escape..Elton Brown says this helps to keep the sides from softening and collasping.

Sylvia 

audra36274's picture
audra36274

Also, still loving that book with the chocolate cake. I have found lots of treasures in it. Can never thank you enough!

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Another addition to my bread bucket list, Eric.

They look great!

Patf's picture
Patf

Reminded me that my Gran used to make these as a dessert - with golden syrup.

She came from Yorkshire.