Gougères
Makes: About 4 dozen
Time: About 1 hour
The savory, cheesy version of Cream Puffs. These make a wonderful party appetizer, but they’re so simple and delicious that you can eat them anytime. Use any hard or semihard cheese—like Gruyère, Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, pecorino, or a combination—and try adding minced fresh herbs like thyme, chives, or rosemary, or ¼ teaspoon each of spices like black pepper, cayenne, chili powder, nutmeg, or even cumin to make the flavor your own.
- 1 stick butter, plus more for greasing (optional)
- ½ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard (optional)
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs
- 1½ cups finely grated hard or semihard cheese
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease 2 baking sheets with butter or line them with parchment paper.
2. Combine the butter, milk, ½ cup water, salt, and dry mustard if you’re using it in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Decrease the heat to low and pour in the flour; stir constantly until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 30 seconds.
3. Take off the heat and let cool for a minute, then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until completely incorporated. (An electric mixer or food processor can make this part easier.) Stop when the mixture is glossy, then stir in the cheese. Gently transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip or a freezer bag with a corner snipped off or use 2 spoons to make mounds of batter about 1 inch wide and a little more than 1 inch tall, about 2 inches apart on the sheets. At this point you can freeze the baking sheets until the puffs are firm, then move them to a zipper bag and keep frozen for no more than a week.
4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until they’re very puffy and a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. If you like, you can make them crisper by using a skewer or sharp knife to prick each one on the side, then turning the oven off and placing the puffs back inside for 5 minutes or so to release steam. Transfer to a rack and serve warm or at room temperature or store in an airtight container for up to 2 days and reheat in a 200°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
GOUGÈRE SANDWICHES An elegant snack for picnics, parties, or weekdays: Let the gougères cool and then split them in half across the middle. Fill as you would any sandwich: with whipped goat cheese and herbs, tapenade, sliced ham, crispy bacon and chopped tomatoes, or arugula and some extra cheese, for starters.
GOUGÈRE PIZZAS An odd but delicious hybrid: Add ½ teaspoon minced fresh oregano in place of the dry mustard. Cut cooked gougères in half and fill with a teaspoon of good tomato sauce and a bit of mozzarella; you can also add a slice of pepperoni, a spoonful of cooked mushrooms or onions, or anything else you like on your pizza. Close up like a sandwich and serve warm.
GOUGÈRE CROUTONS A good use for stale gougères: Dry the puffs out in a 200°F oven until they are very brittle. Chop or grate them up and sprinkle over salads or use as you would bread crumbs.
Cream puff pastry is incredibly versatile. You can make the dough savory or sweet, flavored or not; bake it in many different shapes; add any filling or topping you like. Here’s a rundown.
7 Cream Puff Flavor Combinations
Make these your own. Here are some favorites, but each component can be mixed and matched seamlessly, or experiment with your favorite frostings or sauces.
Cream Puff Pastry or Vanilla Bean Cream Puff Pastry
Chocolate Cream Puff Pastry
Almond Cream Puff Pastry
FILLING
Boozy Pastry Cream made with Bourbon
TOPPING (OPTIONAL)
8 More Sweet Fillings
The sky’s the limit here. Strictly speaking, they won’t necessarily be cream puffs if you change the filling, but who cares? The only rule: Wait until the last minute to fill them to prevent sogginess.
Leave out the sugar in Cream Puff Pastry or make a batch of Gougères and you have the basis for a fantastic savory snack or hors d’oeuvre. Split the puffs in half or pipe in any of these fillings:
The Different Shapes of Choux
LONG
HOW TO MAKE IT Pipe dough in 4-inch lines
WAYS TO USE IT Éclairs
PUFFS
HOW TO MAKE IT Pipe dough in 1-inch balls
WAYS TO USE IT Cream Puffs, Sugar Puffs, Gougères
RINGS
HOW TO MAKE IT Pipe dough in hollow circles of any size
WAYS TO USE IT Paris-Brest, French Crullers
ROUNDS
HOW TO MAKE IT Pipe dough in spirals to make full circles
WAYS TO USE IT Sliced in half and sandwiched with any filling
TOWERS
HOW TO MAKE IT Bake puffs and stack in structures
WAYS TO USE IT Croquembouche