batter is carefully mixed to minimize gluten formation, allowed to stand for an hour or more to allow the proteins and damaged starch to absorb water and air bubbles to rise and escape, and then cooked for just a couple of minutes per side In France, the milk in crêpe batter is sometimes partly replaced with beer, and wheat flour with buckwheat, especially in Brittany Popovers Popovers are an American version of English Yorkshire pudding, which is cooked in the fat rendered from a beef roast The batter is almost identical to crêpe batter, but a different cooking method transforms it into a large air pocket surrounded by a thin layer of pastry Popover batter is vigorously beaten to incorporate air and cooked immediately, before the air bubbles have a chance to escape The batter is poured into a preheated, liberally oiled pan and set in a hot oven The surfaces of the batter set almost immediately The air bubbles within the batter are trapped, expand with the rising temperature, coalesce into one large bubble, and the liquid batter balloons around it and sets into a thin blister When cooked in a pan with many cups, popovers rise unevenly, because the cups around the outside heat faster than the ones in the middle of the pan Griddle Cakes: Pancakes and Crumpets Griddle cakes are made from a more floury, viscous batter than crêpes, popovers, and choux pastry, and can retain gas cells for the few minutes that it takes to cook them; so they rise on the hot pan surface and develop an aerated, tender structure Pancakes may be leavened (and flavored) with yeast, or with whipped egg whites folded into the batter, or ...liberally oiled pan and set in a hot oven The surfaces of the batter set almost immediately The air bubbles within the batter are trapped, expand with the rising temperature, coalesce into one large bubble, and the liquid batter... few minutes that it takes to cook them; so they rise on the hot pan surface and develop an aerated, tender structure Pancakes may be leavened (and flavored) with yeast, or with whipped egg whites folded into the batter, or... around the outside heat faster than the ones in the middle of the pan Griddle Cakes: Pancakes and Crumpets Griddle cakes are made from a more floury, viscous batter than crêpes, popovers, and choux pastry, and can retain gas cells for the