There is a group of courageous bloggers/cooks who are cooking a recipe a week (I think that is how it is going) from Dorie Greenspan’s new book Around My French Table. You can follow along here.
I’m not committing to the series, but I was intrigued by their first recipe, gougères, French cheese puffs. A friend was recently in Paris and mentioned on Facebook that she had some which brought back memories of the cheesy puffs eaten on my last trip to Paris. The next day, I came across the FFwD group and their first recipe. So, Cathi, this one’s for you!
Of course, I rarely follow a recipe 100%, and this one was no exception. I only made half the recipe (but must have made them bigger than Dorie’s as I only got 12 instead of 18). I nervously subbed ½ of the AP flour with whole wheat flour but otherwise I followed Dorie’s recipe. They smelled absolutely fabulous while cooking and were a real treat for cocktail hour. So light and fluffy.
I couldn’t tell that the whole wheat made any difference. Maybe these were not quite as puffy as photos I’ve seen, but I would definitely use the ½ and ½ whole wheat/AP combination again. (I hope the French chefs out there aren’t choking if they read this!)
We didn’t have them with champagne as Dorie recommended, but they went well with a glass of white wine! And a dab of raspberry jam!
12 Gougères, each with 100 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 4 grams carbs, and 4 grams protein.
Ingredients:
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup water
½ stick butter (un-salted)
¼ tsp table salt
¼ cup AP flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 eggs plus 1 yolk
¾ cups (packed) grated gruyere cheese
Method:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small heavy saucepan, add the milk, water, butter and salt and bring to a rolling boil.
Add both flours at one time and turn the heat to medium-low, stirring briskly with a wooden spoon or whisk (I used a wooden spoon). Stir briskly for 2 minutes until dough is smooth.
Put the dough in your mixer with paddle attachment installed. Let it rest for a minute and then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well between. Add egg yolk and beat well.
Add cheese and beat until combined. Immediately, spoon by tablespoon full onto baking mat/parchment paper with about 2 inches between them.
Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
Turn the baking sheet front to back in the oven and bake an additional 12-15 minutes (I only needed 12) until brown and puffed.
Remove and serve warm or allow to cool and reheat slightly when ready to eat.
