But then gougères happened. And Chandra wanted the recipe. So here we meet again. ^_^
These are delicious little cheese puffs - light, airy, non-greasy, with a fantastic flavour that reminds me of a well made Yorkshire pudding. They are hard to resist, trust me. The method was unlike anything else I have tried to date, but it was easy, especially if you have a stand mixer or an electric hand held mixer, although it could be made by hand without too much labour. I'll reference the mixer in the description, as that is what I will be using. Possibly the best thing about these little morsels is that you can whip up the batter, spoon it out onto pans, and then freeze the puffs unbaked - which allows you to pull them from the freezer and bake up a few at a time whenever you like. Which might be safer than having two pans of them fresh from the oven tempting me...
This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table"; I amended it a tiny bit by substituting almond milk for the whole milk. I used cheddar cheese because I had it on hand, but this would be lovely with almost any cheese I can think of... although a smoked mozzarella seems like the next one I'd like to try. With browned butter, perhaps... Oh, the possibilities!
Makes 36 small gougères or 30 medium sized ones.
1/2 cup almond milk (if you use the Vanilla stuff, it will smell very vanilla while it's cooking but the flavour will be okay. I'd still go unsweetened plain, if you can. Or use regular milk if possible)
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature - this is important!
~6 oz coarsely grated cheese, such as Gruyère or cheddar
Position the racks in your oven to divide it into thirds, and preheat to 425F. Line two sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. A quick note for those with apartment sized ovens - you will want to make sure you have enough pans to bake 2 sheets worth and be able to portion out the rest of the batter immediately (on to additional parchment paper, perhaps?). This recipe will make more than what you can fit on apartment-sized baking sheets, I promise. Also, this recipe goes pretty quickly once it gets started, so have your mixer set up with the paddle attachment in place, your ingredients portioned out, and your cheese-grating prep done beforehand - you will not have the time once you get into the recipe.
In a heavy bottomed, medium sized saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a rapid boil over high heat. You want that pot really hopping, but be careful not to burn the butter. Once the mixture is at a rapid boil, dump the flour in all at once, reduce the heat to medium-low and begin to stir everything vigorously with a wooden spoon - the dough will come together in a wet paste very quickly. Continue to stir on heat for another moment or two to dry the dough out a little. The dough should be very smooth.
Scrape the dough into your waiting mixer and let it sit for a moment to cool down. Then blend the eggs into the dough one by one, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Don't worry if the dough starts to look curdled part way through (mine did) - it will come together by time you blend in the final egg. The dough will be thick and glossy and will still be fairly warm by the end of this. Mix in the cheese until well distributed.
Portion the gougères out using ~a tablespoon of batter for each if you want small ones, and up to 2-3 tablespoons worth if you are looking for medium-to-large ones. You'll need ~2 inches worth of space between them on the pans to allow them to puff and crisp properly. Once the gougères are portioned, put them into the oven on the top and bottom racks and reduce the temperature to 375F. Set a timer for 12 minutes. At the 12-minute mark, rotate your pans top to bottom and front to back and then set the timer for an additional 12-15 minutes or so. They bake quickly, so start with the minimum time and watch them carefully. You don't want to over-bake them or they will be dry.
If you plan on freezing the dough, portion it onto sheets as described above and then put your sheets in the freezer until the gougères are solid. Lift them off the baking sheets and pack them airtight to be put in the freezer. To bake them from frozen, do not defrost, just add a moment or two to the baking time. You can also freeze baked puffs by packing them airtight as well and then reheating them in a 350F oven to crisp them up again.
Serve them warm with something lovely to drink (Dorie says white wines or champagnes are her preferred matches), or let them cool to room temperature before serving.
Enjoy!
