Just because it is simple doesn’t mean you
can depend on good results. There are tricks
to make sure they pop. Preheat the buttered
pan at 450 degrees. Bring the eggs to room
temperature. Whirl them with salt till the whole
mixture froths. Warm the milk, but not too hot.
Melt the butter. Be stingy with flour. Mix only
as long as it takes to sing the first verse of Blackbird.
But do not invite guests to show off your prowess,
to boast how light, how airy, how balloon-ish-ly
your popovers rise. Pride will slip in and spoil
the batch. Pride, an ingredient so strong even
what’s foolproof goes flat. And even if the popovers rise,
that pride, oh my friend, you’ll taste it. You’ll taste it.