Gougères {French Cheese Puffs}
Some of you might find this hard to believe but last December, just seven months ago, was the first time I ever made gougères. I’m no stranger to choux pastry, which is the type of cooked dough you make on the stovetop as a base for gougères, a light & airy French cheese puff. In fact, I made my very first choux pastry 22 years ago.
It was part of the first dinner I ever cooked for Michael, and hadn’t realized that until writing this post—June 1995 was my first time making cream puffs, also utilizing a choux pastry base. Back then the filling was made from instant vanilla pudding (gasp!) mixed with homemade whipped cream. I’ve come quite far since then, mastering a lot more than choux and crème pâtissière.
While we were in Paris for the holidays in December, I decided to make some gougères as appetizers for our Christmas Eve dinner, complete with some champagne for sipping. Let’s just say this would be a wonderful start to any meal, any day of the week. And you know what? They’re so easy to make, there’s no reason we all shouldn’t be baking up a batch more often (I’ll promise to if you do, too).
The trick is to make a big batch of dough, and bake just what you need for the evening (or a normal serving, since really, I would eat about 27,000 of them in one sitting if it were acceptable). The rest of the dough you ask? Well, you can pipe it onto trays, flash freeze them just until set, then store the frozen shaped puffs in a bag or container in the freezer. Take them out as you need them, bake (no need to thaw), and enjoy. It’s really that easy.
And crazy as this might sound, because I know no one wants to think about turning on the oven in summertime, these would be perfect for picnics. They hold up well a few hours after being baked, and are very portable.
I’ve kept things simple and straightforward here. You can do the same, or gussy them up a bit with some fresh chopped herbs. I think thyme (lemon thyme is my favorite), basil, or even sage would be a nice surprise. I also think some za’atar sprinkled on top before baking could be a nice twist.
This recipe is now part of my new site, Simmering. It can be found by searching the archives here.
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)
I LOVE gougères – just made them to bring to an apéro on the weekend even though it was hot! One of my favourite things to bake ever, choux pastry (and yes, there’s a recipe in my book for these!).