Gougères “Cheese Puffs”
A gougère is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese, usually gruyère or comté but you can use emmenthal or any hard cheese really – even cheddar!
Gougères are said to come from the Burgundy region in France where they are usually served cold when wine-tasting in cellars, but are also served warm as an appetizer. They can be eaten just as they are or cut in half, crosswise, and then stuffed with a soft cheese filling or foie gras or even with tuna rillette, the recipe for which I posted a few days ago. They really are perfect with pre-dinner drinks but be warned, they are quite addictive!
Ingredients :
- 4 eggs
- 100g grated gruyère (or you can use any hard cheese you have – cheddar, parmesan etc)
- 60g unsalted butter
- 150g flour
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Method :
- Preheat oven to 210°C
- Pour 25cl of water into a saucepan and add the butter, chopped in cubes and the salt
- Bring to the boil
- Add the flour and stir well with a wooden spatula
- Continue stirring constantly for a few minutes until the dough pulls away from the side of the pot and forms a ball
- Remove from heat and add each egg , one by one, mixing well between each one (Don’t worry if the batter separates and looks curdled at first, keep beating, and it will come together eventually!)
- Add the grated cheese and nutmeg
- Using two teaspoons make small balls of dough and place them on an oven tray covered in parchment paper (dip your spoons in a bowl of hot water between each scoop to avoid dough sticking to them)
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until well golden
