Classic Gougères
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4tablespoons/57 grams unsalted butter (½ stick)
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1cup/136 grams bread flour
- 4large eggs, at room temperature
- 5 ounces/142 grams shredded Gruyère
- ⅓ cup/50 grams grated Parmesan cheese
Nutritional analysis per serving (66 servings)
30 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 30 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees, and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water, butter, salt and cayenne to a boil. Stir in flour all at once and cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until dough pulls away from the sides of the pot, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Scrape dough into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with a paddle until cooled slightly, about 30 seconds. (Or you can do this with a wooden spoon if you beat vigorously.) Add one egg at a time, letting each one incorporate before adding the next. Mix in Gruyère and continue to beat until it is mostly melted into batter.
- Step 4
Transfer batter to a large, sealable plastic bag, and snip off ¾ inch from one corner. Pipe 2-teaspoon-sized balls, spaced 1-inch apart, onto baking sheets. Or use a spoon to form the balls. Sprinkle Parmesan on top, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until golden and cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool slightly then serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
In France, groceries carry bags of unbaked frozen gougères. Freezing the prepared unbaked gougères works great, even for several weeks, making gougères a terrific make-ahead before a party. I like to freeze them on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a zip lock bag. Guests love them!
This is a recipe for which you must follow the instructions precisely. Since you say you didn't put the flour in the saucepan, you missed a critical opportunity to COOK the flour, and let it be absorbed into the water and butter. If you do it again, do it the proper way. What you've got here are the instructions for classic cream puffs -- eclairs, gougeres, etc. are in that category and must be made according to the rules. No improvising. Square one. put flour into boiling water.
Where's the video? I cook so much better after watching Melissa do it first. And she makes me laugh.
Made these during the holidays and had to share the oven with a giant roast that was roasting at 350, so the high-heat bake for the first 15 wasn’t possible. To compensate, I just piped them out smaller, about 1t mounds, and baked on the bottom rack for 30m, rotating each tray about halfway through. The unbaked mounds (I had 3 piped half-sheets in all and could only bake one sheet at a time) held fine at room temp until it was their turn to bake, and it gave the family a steady supply of warm, delicate puffs to munch for a few hours before the roast was done. Will do again.
Do not use volumetric measurements when making pate a choux. Weigh all ingredients using a kitchen scale and metric units - I even weigh the water.
I made these as per the recipe and they were delicious. I was surprised, though, by how small they were - 2 teaspoons of batter isn't much. Has anyone made these bigger - I am thinking 2 tablespoons-ish? how would that alter the cooking time?