Gruyere Gougeres

One of the things that I adore about my closest friends is their passion for food. When I hang out with the girls, the conversation always ends up with the same subject. We talk about making it, where the best restaurants are, what I’m going to bake next and how good food is in general.

My friend Anna who now lives in Amsterdam sent me an email to issue me a bit of a challenge. She wanted me to make Gougeres. See Anna is as passionate about cooking and baking as I am. The only thing holding her back is the one thing that I don’t think I can live without. An oven… The place that Anna and her fiancé are staying at doesn’t have an oven.



So here you go my friend.. I tried to do my best to take good photos… Enjoy and if I was you Anna. I would knock on the neighbours door and ask them if you can use their oven so you can start cooking again.

Gougeres are French cheese puffs made from choux pastry and a semi hard cheese. It’s extremely delicious. I used Gruyere for this recipe.

This is a David Lebovitz recipe

Gougeres

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125ml) water
3 tablespoons (40g) butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of chilli powder
1/2 cup (70g) flour
2 large eggs
12 chives, finely-minced
3/4 cup grated cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. Heat the water, butter, salt, and chili or pepper in a saucepan until the butter is melted.
3. Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture pulls away from the sides into a smooth ball. Remove from heat and let rest two minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring quickly to make sure the eggs don't 'cook.' The batter will first appear lumpy, but after a minute or so, it will smooth out.
5. Add about 3/4 of the grated cheese and the chives, and stir until well-mixed.

6. Scrape the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide plain tip and pipe the dough into mounds, evenly-spaced apart, making each about the size of a small cherry tomato.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190C and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until they're completely golden brown.

The Gougeres are a perfect snack. If you want to make them a little fancy just serve it with some white sauce with Ham and Chives. Delicious....