Gougères
Light, airy and delightfully cheesy, gougères are one of France’s favorite hors d’oeuvres. Surprisingly easy to make, they’re cream puffs — pâte à choux (a.k.a. choux paste) — combined with grated cheese, then spooned or piped onto a baking sheet and baked.
Some recipes call for milk in the batter for nice browning; others use water, which makes a lighter, airier puff. We call for half milk and half water, for the best of all possible worlds.
If you want to be fancy, use a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch) to pipe the gougères, rather than using a spoon.
Makes 32 gougères.
Ingredients
1/2 cup / 118 ml water
1/2 cup / 118 ml milk
1/4 cup / 58 grams unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup / 120 grams all purpose flour
4 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup / 56 grams grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup / 38 grams finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350 F / 177 C. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Put the milk and water in a medium saucepan with the butter and the salt, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, remove from heat, and add the flour all at once. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball.
3. Add the eggs, one by one, beating with the wooden spoon. The consistency will be exceedingly strange at first — pieces of the dough will slide off of each other — but in about half a minute, the consistency will become uniform. Beat in the cheeses.
4. Using a tablespoon, drop heaping spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between them. You should be able to fit about 16 on each sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the puffs are golden and hard. Serve immediately.
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Gougères
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup / 118 ml water
- 1/2 cup / 118 ml milk
- 1/4 cup / 58 grams unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup / 120 grams all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 cup / 56 grams grated Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup / 38 grams finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 F / 177 C. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Put the milk and water in a medium saucepan with the butter and the salt, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, remove from heat, and add the flour all at once. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball.
- Add the eggs, one by one, beating with the wooden spoon. The consistency will be exceedingly strange at first — pieces of the dough will slide off of each other — but in about half a minute, the consistency will become uniform. Beat in the cheeses.
- Using a tablespoon, drop heaping spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet, leaving about an inch between them. You should be able to fit about 16 on each sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the puffs are golden and hard. Serve immediately.
