Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Want a crowd-pleaser that tastes really fancy, but takes no time at all. Look no further than

Gougères, also known as cheese puffs. It resembles a savory Profiterole (cream puff) and made in a very similar way. Unlike most other pastry batters, Gougères and Profiterole batter is made over the stove.

See http://mimithorisson.com/2012/04/29/gougeres-traditional-cheese-puffs/ for the original recipe.

1. Preheat your oven to 355 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Prepared all the ingredients including 5 eggs (4 wholes, 1 yolk), 180 grams of shredded cheese, 7 tablespoons of salted butter, 150 grams of all purpose flour, 1 cup of water, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Does anyone notice that this is a different kitchen?

3. Place the butter and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

 4. Pour in the flour into the saucepan once the butter water boils. Immediately take the saucepan off the heat and mix until the dough comes together.

5. Mix in 4 eggs, one at a time. Make sure you mix the dough well each time so that each egg is completely incorporated into the dough.

6. Mix in the cheese, and a dash of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The cheese will melt easily in the still warm dough. The recipes call for Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese, but you could use any bold tasting solid soft cheese like cheddar, gouda, or Swiss . I use Gruyère cheese because Harris Teeter sells it for less than $4 a package, which contains just enough cheese.

The dough will look like this when everything is combined.

7. Place balls of the dough onto cookie sheets/ baking pans lined with parchment paper. The balls should be the size of about 2 tablespoons. The recipes says you can form the balls by either using a pastry bag with a tip or two tablespoons. I myself just use my hands. Initially the balls will be hard to form because your hands will get very sticky, but once you make a few, the stickiness on your hands will help you form subsequent balls.

8. Whisk an egg yolk in a small bowl and then brush the yolk onto each ball to give them a golden finish. You may also sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan cheese on the balls.

Note, this is just one of the baking pans I used.

9. Place the balls into the oven for 25 minutes until the balls puffs up and they turn golden brown.

You will find that they will start disappearing immediately due to their deliciousness.

Don't be afraid of trying this recipe, it is totally worth the work, though it isn't a lot of work.