Lovely! Thanks for the report MrsL. Looks simply grand on my screen. Hope Santa brings you an 8" baking dish!

It works!

The batter did not overflow. I used 8+ ramekins, as of course, I did not have them all in the same size. If I do it again, I'd use ten 3 1/4" w x 2" tall ramekins.

Baked for 45 minutes until golden brown. The tops split open, which gave it a rustic look. I think this happened due to the large amount of leavener, like AJ noted. I've encountered this in some cake-turned-cupcake recipes that I've baked, and in reducing the leavener, you reduce the sunken look and have a more uniform, flat top. So maybe next time I'll use less bp if I use the ramekins again.

Or maybe I'll have an 8" baking dish by then and won't have this dilemma ever again!

Thanks for your help, guys.

This is all so intriguing, I am keen to know how it turns out Mrs. L. I have a hefty dose of that "throw caution to the wind" myself. Antonia J is far more particular and thoughtful than I. I aspire to her precision. As for the rubber stamps, I should more correctly refer to myself at present as a lapsed rubber stamp artist, but for years I carved stamps from erasers and used them as a print-making medium. The carrots are a single stamp, printed twice. '

Thanks, AJ. You are right, this version uses more leavener. I think I'm still going to try the ramekins though, and throw caution to the wind! From viewing the slideshow and the video, it doesn't seem like the spoon bread rises all that much; but it does puff up. I will report back my findings!!

Well, I'd be a bit concerned about putting that recipe into ramekins, because if you look at The Joy of Cooking recipe on which it is based, LocalSavour doubled the baking powder without changing any of the other ingredients except the flavorings (adding vanilla and nutmeg). With twice the leavening of what the Rombauer/Becker team recommended, I'd be concerned about the batter rising too much in those little ramekins. The recipe from The Joy of Cooking is called "Custard Topped Spoon Bread" and at least one blogger has copied it verbatim, for your info, if you don't have the 1997 version of TJOC. All of the techniques are virtually identical, too. It surprises me, actually, that the baking powder taste isn't more of a problem. The large quantity of nutmeg may mask it. I haven't tried the recipe, though, so I wouldn't know. But then I'm from the great Commonwealth of Virginia, where it's against the law to put baking powder in any recipe with "Spoon Bread" in the title. I'd leave it out and do it the right way, which would be to separate the whites from the yolks, beating the whites and folding them in at the end. And then I'd know that (a) it would taste much, much better and (b) it wouldn't overflow the ramekins. ;o)

& cg, so glad you guys liked the scones!! Thank you.

I'll let you know how my spoon bread(s) turns out!

hla, yes, I should tell "santa" to add 1 more item to my list. I've been good, after all. :)

cg, do you actually make rubber stamps?? very curious, looking at your profile page.

maybe mr. sconeman will get you a nice 8" baking dish for christmas!

P.S. Let us know how it works, as I totally agree, they would be adorable as individual spoon breads. BTW, Mr. Math fell in love with your pumpkin scones, as I mentioned back around T'giving, and would be happy to answer any questions involving this kind of calculation. I wonder, has LocalSavour ever tried individual ramekins for this?

Mr. Math says "almost 8" (or 7.7) of your ramekins would hold the same volume as an 8-inch square pan. Happy to oblige!

Oh phooey. I do have a 9 1/2" round springform pan.

Mr. Calendargirl, whoa! Impressive math skills. Now that's got me thinking that these would be REALLY cute in a bunch of little ramekins. Question for math wiz: How many 3.25" ramekins (holding 1/2 - 2/3 cup liquid) would Mrs. Larkin need?

How I don't own an 8" baking dish boggles my mind....Thanks for your help guys.

So, I just asked my husband (Mr. Math), who quickly calculated that the volume of the circular baking dish is 78.5 % of the square one (basically the circle without the corners of the 8-inch square dish), or about 20% less. I would think you would be fine if you made the recipe as is and then used two different pans, a sweet little one for about 1/5 of your batter (and cream) and the 8-inch round baking dish for the rest, and baking them for less time. Begin to check the little one in about 15 minutes? And the larger one in 30 minutes or so? But still use the clean knife test.

MrsL - an 8" square is 64 square inches, an 8" round is 50.3, and a 9" round is 63.6. I'd go 9" round if you've got it, instead.