Popovers for Passover
March 26th, 2010 by Halley SilverRecipe: Passover Popovers
What’s the first food you think of when you hear the word “Passover?”
Matzo, for sure. Charoset. Horseradish. Parsley. Eggs. Matzo ball soup. And for me, popovers.
Doesn’t everyone associate popovers with Passover? Well, apparently not. But at the Silver family seders, popovers were always the star, thanks to my grandmother.
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My grandmother passed away many years ago, and for my cousin’s bridal shower, her sister put together a book of her recipes. I’ve had the book sitting on my shelf for years, and admittedly have never once tried a recipe.
My grandmother wasn’t the “warm, bake in the kitchen with kids” type. She was all business; her kitchen was so immaculate I feared dropping a single crumb, and meals at her house consisted of the exact same menu every time. So most of her recipes are not ones I’m eager to share with my family (sorry, Gram).
But Gram did cook a few things really well, and Passover popovers is definitely one recipe that should be shared.
The recipe looked easy enough, but as you see by the scribbles, I did need to spend some time deciphering the vague instructions and clarifying parts in order to make it “publishable.” 10-12 eggs? Well, I assume she always bought extra-large eggs, so even if she used 10, that would probably mean 12 large eggs. And then there’s the “oil cupcake tins…” line. Cupcake tins? I’ll use a standard muffin pan, just to be safe.
So, I decided to do a trial run to start. First, preheat the oven to 400°F, and oil the “tins.”
I take out the can of Everbake Spray, and to my delight, it’s kosher!
Wait, does kosher mean kosher for Passover? Oy vay… Apparently, the OU symbol means kosher, but soybeans aren’t kosher for Passover, and Everbake contains both soybean and canola oils.
Well, I love Everbake Spray – it’s one of those items that once I tried, I’ve never been able to switch back to the “other spray.” So I’m bending the rules here, and using the Everbake. If you’d like to keep it kosher for Passover, use canola oil.
Next, boil 3 cups water, 1 cup oil (canola, to keep it safe), 1 to 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar. The liquid will look a bit thicker as it comes to a boil.
Two key Passover popover ingredients – matzo meal, and cake meal (which is also made from matzo).
After boiling, add 2 cups matzo meal and 1 cup cake meal. The mixture will be quite stiff. I tried using a whisk at first, but quickly switched to a wooden spoon.
Let the mixture cool for about 1 hour. It should be quite thick and solid.
Add 12 large eggs, and beat. Since the mixture is so thick, a stand mixer is a big help here.
Scoop the stiff batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full. For a standard muffin pan, our muffin scoop is perfect for the job. This is another one of those tools that once I tried using it, I had to go buy one in every size. Even though I don’t consider myself a “baker,” I use them for everything. Cookies, cupcakes, muffins, ice cream, fillings, toppings…
In any case, if using a muffin pan, the recipe will make about 28 muffin-size popovers.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400°, then reduce to 325° and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
To check if they’re done, pull one out of the pan and break it open; the interior should be mildly moist, but not soggy.
For fun, I also tried our standard popover pan and our mini-popover pan. The recipe will make 15 standard popovers; or 30 adorable little mini-popovers. For the standard popover pan, I baked a few minutes longer; for the minis, a few minutes less.
Now I didn’t have “high hopes” for this recipe, but I was shocked at how perfect the popovers turned out. And not only did they rise beautifully, they smelled and tasted just as delicious as my grandmother’s.
This trial run was definitely a home run, and Gram’s popovers will now make a comeback to the annual seder menu at my house.
I put these out in the break room for my coworkers to enjoy. Nobody could believe they were made out of matzo meal, and we all enjoyed with butter and apricot preserves (and phew, that’s kosher too!).
Read, rate, and review (please) our recipe for Passover Popovers.
And of course, good Pesach!
March 26th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Canola oil isn’t kosher for pesach unless it is specifically marked as such, just FYI. The kosher symbol on the package will tell you if it is, but any old jug of kosher-for-the-rest-of-the-year canola oil won’t work. The plain old OU symbol just means kosher, an OU-P is kosher l’pesach.
http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/passover/article/4830/
March 26th, 2010 at 7:02 am
Actually, that’s true for any good item, with some exceptions. A plain heksher (kosher symbol) doesn’t mean kosher for pesach even if there are no grains in the finished product. Kosher for pesach certification insures that, in addition to the food being kosher, it was made in a grain free factory, where the machines had been cleaned according to the constraints of religious law before being used to cook kosher for pesach food, and with someone knowledgeable on site to ensure no errors were made in production.
March 26th, 2010 at 10:17 am
My family has been making these for years. Bake them on a cookie sheet & you don’t need to grease the pan as there’s plenty in the dough. They’ll be flatter & they’re perfect for sandwiches.
March 26th, 2010 at 10:37 am
I TOTALLY love the idea of popovers for Passover since I love popovers. You and your Gram are brilliant!
March 26th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Sheri, thanks for that great idea! I am definitely going to try this on a cookie sheet, just to see what happens. These look great.
My spiritual beliefs don’t have any food restrictions, so I love the information I get from this blog. If I make something for someone else’s holidays, I can come here and read all about it — especially the comments like those above with what symbols, etc. to look for on packaging. I refer friends to your recipe collection all the time, especially now that you have more gluten-free things.
March 26th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Just wanted to let those people who must be on wheat-free or gluten-free diets that matzo is made from wheat. Since this recipe was labeled as “flourless”, some people not acquainted with Jewish food may not realize this, so decided to post this information.
Thanks for sharing for the safely of all! Irene @ KAF
March 26th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
We, too, have made these for years. For a dessert, fill the cavity inside with some chocolate chips, dried apricots or other fruit, and microwave briefly–YUM!
I’m planning to try the Gluten Free Cheese buns (Pao de Quiejo) you posted a short while back this Passover. Same idea, but the flavor sounds interesting.
I’ve heard it’s impossible to find tapioca flour with the Pesach hecsher (mark of certification). We, personally, are not particularly strict about the Kosher for Pesach ourselves as long as the primary source isn’t from one of the five species, but I know that is an issue for some.
One website shows that you can purchase frozen Pao de Quiejo made by Kessem which have the Pesach Hecsher, but where’s the fun in that???
March 27th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Could I use all Matzo cake meal instead of using a mix? Thats all I bought this year… I don’t know. We haven’t tried it. I don’t know if it would have enough gluten to trap the air and puff. Give it a try and let us know how it comes out. Mary @ KAF
March 27th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
My wife has a heart problem especially with her cholesterol, and doesn’t like to have me use the whole egg (yolk) I have been using 1/2 the whole egg and 2 for 1 egg whites. for this recipe it would be 6 whole eggs and 12 whites. no matter how hard I try they will not raise very high. Egg substitute doesn’t work at all. Any suggestions?
When I have used whole eggs they turn out great.
You have really worked hard to try to make these without so many whole eggs and we appreciate hearing about your results. We have only been successful making this these using 12 whole eggs. JMD @KAF
March 28th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
ha! i am not the only person who uses the term “gram” instead of the more traditional words! thanks.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:27 am
where can i get cake meal and matzo meal. I have a son who has celiac sprue and is on a gluten free diet he also is a diabetic with a insulin pump. thank you for your help Judi Cowell, from N.C. Cake Meal and Matzo meal can usually be found in grocery stores just before Passover. They are NOT gluten-free, just kosher for Passover. Mary @ KAF
March 30th, 2010 at 10:17 am
I have been making a very similar recipe for Passover Popovers for about 50 years and they always come out great. However, if I wanted more than one batch, I always thought I had to make the batter each time. I didn’t know that it could sit for an hour or more. I tried it yesterday and it worked. You have saved me a lot of time and cleanup. I mixed the large batch and just baked two big batches one at time. Thank you so much! This Grandmother is not afraid to learn new things.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:49 am
I tried these for Passover yesterday and was more than pleasantly surprised at how light they were. They were a huge hit and a wonderful accompaniment for brisket. The best was how easy they are to make.
April 2nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I just made these a couple of hours ago and served them to my cousins for lunch. They were a huge hit. I’m taking some to dinner tonight. They made 24 rather than 15 muffin sized popovers, but they popped up plenty. Thanks for the recipe.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Made these for a Passover Brunch and they were a hit! Made 24 muffin-sized popovers, plus 24 mini-muffin popovers. They tasted like a baked matzah ball to my taste buds (a compliment), and I am so glad it made so many!
April 7th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
i made these with whole wheat matzo and they didn’t rise at all in the oven, ended up like a muffin, any suggestions?
Hi Karin,
It may be that the whole wheat matzo weighed the batter down a bit too much. Try half regular and half whole wheat and see if you don’t get more “pop”. ~ MaryJane
April 9th, 2010 at 9:37 am
These are a variation on the Passover roll recipe handed down in my family. I’ve been baking them for years as rolls, rather than popovers. Like the other poster mentioned, great for sandwiches. I usually make at least one batch with the addition of finely chopped onion sauteed in schmaltz and chopped parsley. This year I used half whole wheat matzah meal, put the whole sticky mess in a disposable pastry bag and piped out faux hot dog rolls. It worked more than passably well and made my daughter feel less left out when the neighbors had a cookout on Easter.
April 10th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I see you are using the paddle attachment with silicone blades. I have one and would like to buy one for a gift, but can’t find it on the website. I may just not be using the right key word. Can you help me? By the way, I absolutely love mine! We don’t sell them anymore, I’m sorry.
True Sandie, Kitchen Aid had an issue with the manufacturers of the beater blades and said using them would void your mixer’s warranty, so we decided to stop selling them until they can get the issue straightened out. That being said, if you aren’t worried about the warranty, you can still find the beater blades on the ‘net. Try a Google search. ~ MaryJane
April 1st, 2012 at 9:30 am
ALso something to bear in mind is that canola and soybean oil are from genetically engineered sources so you may want to avoid these altogether unless they are sourced organically. I avoid gmo at all times and instead rely on coconut and olive which are both ok for passover and any other time as well!