gougeres

Gougeres I made for Kristi's dinner party

Gougeres are a specialty from Burgundy and I have just discovered what versatile things they are:

You can add cheese,fried onions,shrimp paste or herbs to the dough; they are pretty, delicious and once you get the hang of them, very quickly made.

Here goes:

Heat the oven to 210 C.
Get everything ready.
Weigh 100g of butter
150g of cake flour
150g of coarsely grated cheese,ripe cheddar or manchego
Measure 2.5 dl of water
Add 1 level teaspoon of salt, 1/4 of a teaspoon of ground pepper and some grated nutmeg to the flour
Have 4 medium eggs handy (taken out of the refrigerator beforehand)
Get the eggbeater ready
Line a cooky sheet with grease proof paper
Now pour the water into a saucepan, add the butter and let come to a boil. As soon as the butter is melted add the flour mixture in one fell swoop, take off the heat and beat hard (I use the egg beater). Wait a couple of minutes, then add one egg at a time and beat furiously in between. When you have added the last egg the dough should be glistening and come off the side of the pan. It must hold its shape.If it doesn't the eggs may have been too large, add a little flour.
Add the cheese (or the fried onions or anything you fancy) and with a teaspoon make little mounds on the cooky sheet.

Place in the oven and insert a wooden spoon to keep the oven open a crack for the first 6 minutes. Close the oven and lower the temperature to 180. Keep an eye on the gougeres and when they are golden brown, turn the oven off and insert the wooden spoon again. Don't take the gougeres out for at least 20 minutes.
Bon appetit!

If you are a perfectionist, use a pastry gun and brush the gougeres with egg yolk.