This one’s for all you carb-lovers out there.
And, even if you don’t like carbs, indulge me for a minute. I think I may be able to change your mind.
Oh, also…If you’ve never heard of passion fruit and have no idea where to come across such a thing as “passion fruit butter,” you don’t even have an excuse not to make these because trust our good ol’ Amazon has you covered. It’s even available on Prime! Two days and you’ll be ready to rock this recipe. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.
So let’s talk a little bit about these Passion Fruit Popovers. If you’ve ever had a classic popover, you’ll know that they are (typically) light and airy, and a cross somewhere between the lightest muffin you’ve ever eaten, a warm bread roll straight out of the oven, and some sort of custardy deliciousness. They’re called popovers because the tops “pop over” the top of the pan while baking with hot steam trapped inside to really give them that airiness. This is achieved (in some part) by reducing the oven temperature a portion of the way through the cooking time.
Now, I love me a classic popover (because Me + Baked Goods = <3) but I wanted to mix things up a bit and create a version with a little extra flavor. I’ve spoken before on this blog about my love for Hawaii (and, more specifically, its food) and today will be no exception. Passion fruit is HUGE in the land of aloha, and you will find it in absolutely everything (juices, baked goods, pancakes, sauces…the list goes on.)
When Chris and I were there last May (you know, getting engaged) we made sure to hit up the Kapiolani Community College Farmers’ Market at the base of Diamond Head. This was one of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings when I lived there. It’s one of the largest Farmers’ Markets in the country and there is never a shortage of produce, pre-cooked delicacies, and fine local food purveyors. One of these such purveyors sold the largest selection of jams and “butters” you have ever seen featuring all of the local fruits and flavors. [If you’re not familiar with butters, they’re basically a curd.)
Chris and I decided these would be the perfect souvenir (for both our parents and ourselves) so we quickly scooped some up, including the passion fruit butter I used in this recipe.
Alas, I digress. Now we know where I found the passion fruit butter (and really I could have saved both of our time by just telling you to get it on Amazon, but I had to reminisce for a moment.) Let’s get on with the recipe.
As I mentioned above, popovers tend to have a custardy quality, so we use quite a few eggs in this batter. We also use milk and the passion fruit butter, which leaves us with no shortage of moisture in this batter. We have all of the typical ingredients as well (flour, baking powder, etc.) but we sneak in just a little orange zest to give these popovers a little more “pop.”
We bake them in a cupcake pan (unless we have a marvelous kitchen equipment inventory that includes an actual popover pan, they do exist) and, as mentioned before, we pull an oven temperature change about halfway through.
We eat this as straight out of the oven as possible (without burning ourselves of course) to maximize on the warm, light, fluffiness. Once the popovers cool, they will deflate a bit, but have no fear, they’ll still taste delicious. This version is a bit more dense than many popover recipes, but we’ll take it as a good thing – more passion fruit flavor in every bite!
These are extremely versatile in that they can be served for breakfast or dinner. In fact, they’d be perfect for brunch, too! And they really don’t take long to make. Now go order yourself some passion fruit butter because it will arrive just in time for Friday and on the weekends we’re always looking for excuses to brunch. If you can’t wait two days, have no fear. You can make these with any sort of curd (lemon, orange, blood orange, etc.) as well.
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces passion fruit butter or other fruit butter or curd
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a cupcake or popover pan with cooking spray; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs until pale and foamy.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm milk to about 110 degrees (I like to call this “bathtub warm.”) Once milk is at the desired temperature, remove from heat and add to eggs in stand mixer. Add sugar and beat to combine.
- In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat until all ingredients are combined.
- Add passion fruit butter and orange zest. Beat on low until incorporated.
Passion Fruit Popovers FTW!!
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