It’s the end of March, and winter here finally seems to be moving on. The constant snow has turned into near constant rain-better, but a little glum. A little perking up in the form of fancy carbs seemed to be in order this weekend. Plus, for me, every spring I cut way back on carbs (or try to) out of anxiety due to bathing suit season. So this weekend seemed to be a now or never moment for these little gougeres, which are savory cream puffs filled with cheese.
I’ve been meaning to make these since I got the Bouchon Bakery cookbook for Christmas. This is Thomas Keller’s cookbook, and it’s intense. There are recipes that have you starting on Tuesday to have bread on Saturday, and instructions to build a steam generating kit for your home oven. On the scale of DIY/baking extremes, I am usually pretty far down the path. But filling my oven with rocks and blasting them with a high powered water gun is where I draw the line. So I have only attempted a few recipes so far, and the book has quietly been collecting dust on my shelf.
Luckily, not all the recipes are that involved, and this one is fairly simple. That’s one of my favorite kinds of things to make: things that are easy to make but look fancy and difficult (if you want to make the opposite-seems simple and ordinary yet challenging- give these pretzel bites a try). He does suggest using molds to make them perfectly uniform, and freezing ahead for several hours, but it’s not necessary. The gougeres come out lovely without it. You can also make them, freeze them and bake them when company comes by, and it will look like you spent the whole day baking.
ingredients:
adapted from Bouchon Bakery
- 2/3 c. water
- 5 tbl. butter
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
- 3/4 c. flour
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese
Preheat oven to 375°. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper and have a spray bottle filled with water handy. Combine water, butter, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan. Turn heat to medium and stir until butter melts. When butter has melted, increase heat to medium high and bring mixture to a simmer. (This step is crucial. If you skip the simmer, the gougeres won’t come together).
Once simmering, remove from heat and stir in the flour. Continue stirring for a minute or so, until mixture looks like a thick paste.
Put your pan back over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly for about a minute, until the mixture is glossy and smooth and not sticking to the pan.
Transfer dough to the bowl of an electric mixer and let cool for a minute. Turn mixer on low. After 30 seconds, add eggs in 3 parts, waiting between each one to let them fully incorporate into the dough. Turn mixer to medium and mix for 15 seconds. Stop the mixer and check your dough. It should form a peak when you pull the mixer blade up and softly hold a shape.
Add the cheese and mix on low to incorporate.
Use a pastry bag or a spoon sprayed with non stick cooking spray to make rounded, walnut sized mounds of dough, spaced 2″ apart. Spritz lightly with water. Use a wet finger to smooth any jagged peaks.
Put into the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350°. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until they turn a light golden brown. Lower oven temperature to 325° and bake for 10 minutes more. Gougeres should be light and hollow. Serve warm.
*To make and freeze these, shape your dough and freeze them for up to a month. Do not spritz with water. When ready to bake, spritz frozen rounds of dough and put into the oven. Do not thaw. Increase the baking time by several minutes until they are light golden brown.
You can also bake these ahead of time and store tightly wrapped at room temperature for a few days. Warm them in the oven for 5 minutes or so before serving.
