Seeded Rye Gougères

Makes 2 dozen

WHEN I WORKED AT LA VARENNE, the French cooking school in Burgundy, I always volunteered to go on the morning bakery run; I drove the beat-up school car to the village boulangerie for baguettes and bought a cheesy gougère for the ride home. Lyle Lovett’s album Pontiac was stuck in the car’s tape deck, so that became the unlikely sound track of that summer.

While in Burgundy, I learned how to make veal demi-glace and pike quenelles and pâte feuilletée. But of all of the French recipes I picked up, it’s choux (pronounced “shoe”) pastry I make the most. This simple dough, used for gougères (and éclairs), is easy to make and totally rewarding. I love to watch them inflate in the oven into airy, rich puffs.

I like to add a bit of rye flour to this and other savory doughs (you’ll notice I include some in the dough for my calzones, here), just enough to impart a nutty flavor that is enhanced by the Gruyère and the seeded topping. It’s completely optional, though, and the gougères will be equally good if made entirely with all-purpose flour.

If you want to make a sweet version, omit the cheese and seeded topping. Once cooled, split them, fill them with scoops of ice cream, and serve with chocolate or caramel sauce drizzled over.

1 cup milk or water

8 tablespoons butter

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

⅔ cup all-purpose flour

⅓ cup rye flour

4 eggs

1 cup grated Gruyère cheese

FOR THE TOPPING:

1 egg

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

2 teaspoons sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine the milk, butter, and salt in a medium-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium low and add the flours all at once. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes together into a ball and begins to leave a film on the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the dough on low speed to cool it slightly. When steam is no longer rising from the dough, add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg in completely before adding the next. Fold in all but 2 tablespoons of the cheese and transfer the dough to a piping bag. (Alternatively, you can forget the piping bag and just scoop the dough onto the baking sheet with a spoon.)

Line two rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Snip the end off the piping bag with a pair of scissors and pipe the dough onto the prepared pans in 1½-inch mounds, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Wet your fingertip and smooth the tops of each mound.

MAKE THE TOPPING: In a small bowl, beat together the egg and salt. In a second small bowl, stir together the sesame, sunflower, and poppy seeds. With a pastry brush, brush each gougère with some of the egg wash, then top each with some of the seed mixture and some of the reserved grated cheese.

Transfer the pans to the oven and bake until the gougères are puffed and deep golden brown, about 24 minutes. Do not underbake or the gougères will collapse when they’re pulled out of the oven. Remove from the oven and, with a skewer or toothpick, poke a hole in the side of each gougère (this allows the steam within to escape and prevents them from deflating). Serve warm.

Gougères can be made ahead and frozen. I pipe the dough onto lined pans and freeze it, then transfer the frozen unbaked gougères to a plastic freezer storage bag, and freeze for up to 2 months. They can be baked from frozen, though you may need to add a few minutes in the oven. Baked gougères can also be frozen; let them cool completely, then transfer to a plastic freezer storage bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat in a 400°F oven until hot, about 8 minutes.