You have guests at home, you are preparing a board of sausages and cheese, you have bought good butter and selected a special wine. You could set out a few bowls with spouts and swear at them—we picked 12 reliable brands so you don't have to go crazy—and no one would miss a thing. But what would a tower of cheese profiteroles filled with cheese and topped with a little more cheese look like in composition? You don't have to look any further: this dairy fantasy has already been invented and is called Gougère.
They are typical of the Burgundy region and represent another way of using choux pastry, alongside profiteroles, eclairs, crowns or chouquettes. The main difference is that grated cheese is added to the dough, usually Gruyère, Comté or Emmental, but we can also Use Manchego or other hard cheese. The key to this preparation is to blanch the flour properly and stir vigorously until the dough separates from the sides of the pot and turns a light color. When adding the eggs, it is better to beat them very well and add them little by little to keep a close eye on the consistency. It seems to be cut, but keep stirring: the end result should be a smooth dough, neither runny nor compact.
The shape usually resembles the shape of small donuts that can be eaten in one bite, making them very good accompaniments to sausages. But let's improvise a little. While we're at it, why don't you fill them out? To make this possible, I shaped them a little larger and prepared a thick béchamel sauce to which I added a lot of cheese. Once cooled, pour into a piping bag fitted with a small metal nozzle and fill the gougères individually.
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: Find the right point for choux pastry
Ingredients
For about 20 gougères
For the bechamel sauce
- 300 ml whole milk
- 30g butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 150g Gruyère cheese
- Black pepper
For the masses
- 95g whole milk
- 95g water
- 85g butter
- 85g flour
- 3 large eggs
- 100g Gruyère cheese (plus a little extra for serving)
- Salt
- Black pepper
instructions
1.
Preheat the oven to 170 °C top and bottom heat.
2.
Heat milk, water, butter and half a teaspoon of salt in a saucepan.
3.
When it begins to boil, add the flour and stir continuously until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan.
4.
Remove from heat and let rest for a few minutes.
5.
Beat the eggs and add them to the dough little by little until you get a dough with a soft and uniform consistency, neither runny nor compact. Add the grated cheese and black pepper.
6.
Pour the dough into a piping bag and pipe round shapes onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
7.
Bake for 25 minutes and let cool on a rack.
8th.
To make the béchamel, melt the butter and cook the flour for three minutes, stirring to prevent it from burning. Add the milk and stir with a whisk. Add cheese and black pepper.
9.
Fill a piping bag with a narrow nozzle and fill the gougères. Serve in a tower shape with a little more cheese and pepper.
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