Gougères
Burgundian cheese puffs — choux pastry shot through with sharp Comté, baked until shatteringly crisp outside and hollow within. The classic with a glass of something cold and dry.
Ingredients
- whole milk1/2 cup
- water1/2 cup
- unsalted butter7 tbsp, cubed
- fine sea salt3/4 tsp
- all-purpose flour1 cup
- large eggs4
- comté cheese120 g, finely grated
- freshly grated nutmegpinch
- freshly ground black pepperto taste
Steps
Heat oven and prepare pans.
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line two sheet pans with parchment.
Combine liquids and bring to boil.
Combine milk, water, butter, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil so the butter is fully melted.
Add flour off heat and stir.
Off heat, dump in the flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms.
Dry out the paste.
Return to medium heat and stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dry out the paste — it will pull away from the sides and leave a thin film on the pan.
Cool dough and beat in eggs.
Transfer to a bowl and let cool 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next.
Fold in cheese and seasonings.
Fold in three-quarters of the Comté, the nutmeg, and a few grinds of pepper.
Spoon dough and top with cheese.
Spoon walnut-sized mounds onto the sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Top each with the remaining cheese.
Bake until golden and dry.
Bake until deeply golden and dry to the touch, 22–25 minutes. Do not open the oven before 20 minutes.
Serve warm, ideally within an hour of baking.
Nutrition, per serving. 320 calories. Protein 14.5 grams, 17 percent. Carbs 22 grams, 26 percent. Fat 22 grams, 58 percent. Fiber 1 grams, sugar 2 grams, saturated fat 13 grams, sodium 430 milligrams. Estimated from ingredients.
