Passover Bulkies (Popovers)
Frances Stolper
This is the recipe I’ve come up with to replicate the bulkies my mother made every Passover as I was growing up. We would have them for the seder, and then use the leftovers to make sandwiches for school lunches. My mother also made Passover bagels from the same recipe, shaping the dough into rings on a cookie sheet.
Food Editor's Notes:
No matter how many delicacies my mother-in-law serves at the seder (and she is a fantastic cook!), everyone oohs and aahs when she brings these bulkies to the table. They look and taste like popovers, huge and light. She saves these to make right before the seder begins and lets them sit on the counter until they are served. Although they last for several days, they begin to soften once they are covered.
Ingredients
1 cup water
1/3 cup unsalted butter or pareve margarine
1 cup matzah meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 extra large eggs
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease generously the top and insides of a muffin tin, preferably a non-stick one. (The dough will puff up and spread over the sides of the openings.)
Bring water and butter or margarine to a boil in a small pot. Pour in matzah meal and salt all at one time and continue cooking and stirring until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the pan. Remove from the stove and place dough in a mixing bowl. Beat the dough for one minute at high speed (speed #8 in a Kitchen-Aid mixer) until it seems lighter in consistency. Continue beating and add the eggs, one at a time. Beat another 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom to make sure all the dough is mixed in.
Mound the batter in 8 of the muffin holes and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake approximately 35 minutes longer or until puffed and browned. Let the bulkies cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to a rack. Serve at room temperature.
This recipe makes 8 large bulkies. It may be doubled.
Frances Stolper is the Food Editor’s mother-in-law and an expert baker and all-around cook.