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Gougères


Last week, Deb posted [1] about these delicious Gougères she made. I took one look at the recipe and thought how could they possibly not be amazing? I mean, pastry and cheese? Yum!

Well…they’re good. The cayenne flavor is pretty nonexistent, but the cheese is definitely sharp and the pastry is flaky on the outside and light and airy on the inside. They ended up a little smaller than I expected. The recipe says to put them two inches apart on the cookie sheet, so I expected them to spread a little; they did, but just barely. They’re pretty small–you could easily eat one in two bites. I think they would be delicious with soup.

Ingredients
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese (Emmenthaler or Gruyère)
Coarse salt (fleur de sel or kosher salt) to sprinkle on top

Directions

  1. Bring the milk, butter, salt, and cayenne to a boil in a saucepan.
  2. Remove from the heat, add the flour all at once, and mix vigorously with a wooden spatula until the mixture forms a ball.
  3. Return the pan to the heat and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute to dry the mixture a bit.
  4. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor, let cool for 5 minutes, then process for about 5 seconds.
  5. Add the eggs and paprika to the processor bowl, and process for 10 to 15 seconds, until well mixed. Transfer the choux paste to a mixing bowl, and let cool for 10 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a cookie sheet with a reusable nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the grated Parmesan cheese, then add the remainder and all the Swiss cheese to the choux paste. Stir just enough to incorporate.
  7. Using a tablespoon, scoop out a level tablespoon of the gougère dough, and push it off the spoon onto the cooking mat.
  8. Continue making individual gougères, spacing them about 2-inches apart on the sheet. Sprinkle a few grains of coarse salt and a little of the reserved Parmesan cheese on each gougère. Bake for about 30 minutes, until nicely browned and crisp.

Serve lukewarm or at room temperature with drinks.

Makes about 30.

Recipe from Food & Wine [2].