Popovers at Church Square
For Carl Parisian and Morgan Schaffrath the only way to bake is with love.
“I love to bake. It's hard work, but I'm baking with love. You can feel in my popovers. It is made with love and whenever I give somebody a popover or something sweet that they smile, it makes them happy. And if you're having a bad day and you come in, you get your popover and you smile, that's everything for a baker. That's everything for me.”
And you will feel the love with every bite at Popovers at Church Square.
Set in the heart of Wellesley, Popovers at Church Square is a neighborhood cafe that quickly won over the hearts and tastebuds of locals for their freshly brewed coffees and housemade treats.
“The vibe here is very casual. There's a big dining area that people love to sit in. It's open, and it feels very spacious and bright, and it's something very unique and different to Wellesley.”
And their specialty is the nostalgic popover.
“A popover is a take on a Yorkshire pudding, which originated sometime in the 1800s from England.”
“We make all of our batter by hand, no machine, so made with love, and we use a regular popover pan, and we just fill them and bake them and watch them rise. You can actually watch them through the oven door and you can see them popping, popping up, up, up, and ours get pretty big, so it's a sight to see. They’re hard to make because you can't open the oven door, you can mess with them in any way, or they deflate.”
“Huge popovers, absolutely huge. No one makes them bigger.”
“Look at these big, beautiful, golden brown and delicious popovers, fresh out of the oven. You bake all day, fresh product. When you cut into the popover, the steam escapes. And look at that, light and airy, fluffy. It's delicious.”
“There is no such thing as a perfect popover. Each one's different, but they're huge. You can see them come out of the oven, and they just popped over the pan, which is where the name popover comes from.”
“No Popover is the same. They're all unique. They're all beautiful and it should just be light and airy and fluffy and then buttery and delicious, and just you take one bite and you have to finish it, even though it's the size of your head.”
First timers should always start with a plain popover with your choice of spread from peanut butter and Nutella to a variety of jams and butters. From there - the options are endless.
“It's airy and light and buttery and delicious, but it's a type of bread that we can use as a vehicle to make all different kinds of things.”
During breakfast, you can start your day with a popover take on Pan Perdu.
“Pan perdu is our popover french toast. So we actually slice the popover and do this cinnamon and egg batter mixture. We serve it with powdered sugar, melted butter, maple syrup. It's amazing, and it smells even better.”
Other sweet ways to start your day include the Churro Popover.
“So it's cinnamon and sugar coated with a bit of butter on the outside of a popover and we serve it warm right from the oven. It's just like a churro, but made with a popover. People love it.”
And for the ultimate breakfast sandwich, you’re going to want to try this popover version.
“We make a variety of breakfast sandwiches. Bacon, egg and cheese is our most popular, with the crispy bacon and the melted cheese and the fresh egg on the light, buttery popover. It's amazing. You take one bite and you eat the whole thing.”
The sandwiches really shine at lunch time, when you can get everything from the Crispy Chicken Cluck featuring air fried chicken breast with a zippy sriracha aioli. A Mediterranean popover topped with that same chicken, feta, roasted red pepper and veggies and even a take on a steak and cheese sub.
“It is ultra decadent. It is shaved steak and green pepper, onion, lettuce, tomato, and then your choice of mayonnaise or spicy aioli. It's amazing. It's cheesy, and you get the rich steak and it is once again on the light buttery popover. It’s really good.”
Seafood fans will want to try the so-called Hook, Line and Sinker- a fish sandwich with housemade tartar and for a popover sandwich by way of Italy, try the Caprese.
“The Caprese pesto sandwich is made with pesto, fresh avocado, lettuce, tomato and mozzarella cheese. When you bite into it, you get the fresh pesto flavor. The fresh mozzarella tastes lettuce and tomato. It's delicious.”
And pizza lovers will want to try this pepperoni slice using a popover as the base.
“So everybody loves pizza, but pop over. Pizza is special and unique. So we just slice it, pizza sauce, melted cheese, and then we have a fresh pepperoni and people really enjoy it.”
And from Pan Perdu to Pizza. Sandwiches and more. You never know what you’re going to find on the menu at Popovers at Church Square.
“I am constantly thinking of ideas. There's so many different options, menu options that I'd like to introduce. You can turn a popover into anything you want. That's what I've discovered.”
