FOOD CHEMISTRYCharles’s Law Popovers

Ingredients2 eggs1 cup milk1 tbsp butter, melted

Instructions1. Preheat oven to 425 °F. Butter eight 6-oz. custard cups generously; place on a jelly-roll pan. Place in oven to heat while preparing batter.

2. Beat eggs in large bowl; add milk and butter. Beat until blended. Add flour and salt; beat until batter is quite smooth. Ladle into prepared cups to fill about half-full.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cut slit in side of each popover to allow steam to escape. Bake for 5 minutes longer or until popovers are a deep brown and very crisp. Serve immediately. Makes 8 popovers.

The gas in the popovers is mostly water vapor and the volume within the popover increases greatly in a hot oven. The result is a very delicious hollow bread that demonstrates Charles’s Law! Charles’s Law states that the volume of a gas sample at constant pressure is directly proportional to its temperature. This is represented by the equation V=kT (V = volume, T = temperature in Kelvin, k = a constant).References:Recipe from the Family Circle Encyclopedia of Cooking.Chemistry in the Community, 6th Edition, 2012, pp. 170–173.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour1/2 tsp salt