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Gougères “Cheese Puffs”

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gougeres

A gougère is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese, usually gruyère or comté but you can use emmenthal or any hard cheese really – even cheddar!

Gougères are said to come from the Burgundy region in France where they are usually served cold when wine-tasting in cellars, but are also served warm as an appetizer. They can be eaten just as they are or cut in half, crosswise, and then stuffed with a soft cheese filling or foie gras or even with tuna rillette, the recipe for which I posted a few days ago. They really are perfect with pre-dinner drinks but be warned, they are quite addictive!
 
 
 

Ingredients :

  • 4 eggs
  • 100g grated gruyère (or you can use any hard cheese you have – cheddar, parmesan etc)
  • 60g unsalted butter
  • 150g flour
  • 1 pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method :

  1. Preheat oven to 210°C
  2. Pour 25cl of water into a saucepan and add the butter, chopped in cubes and the salt
  3. Bring to the boil
  4. Add the flour and stir well with a wooden spatula
  5. Continue stirring constantly for a few minutes until the dough pulls away from the side of the pot and forms a ball
  6. Remove from heat and add each egg , one by one, mixing well between each one (Don’t worry if the batter separates and looks curdled at first, keep beating, and it will come together eventually!)
  7. Add the grated cheese and nutmeg
  8. Using two teaspoons make small balls of dough and place them on an oven tray covered in parchment paper (dip your spoons in a bowl of hot water between each scoop to avoid dough sticking to them)
  9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until well golden

 

 

 

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Flammeküche

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Flammekuche

Flammeküche is the Alsatian word for what is called a tarte flambée in french. It has a thin bread dough base with crème fraîche, fromage blanc, onions and smoked lardons. This Alsatian street food is very easy to make at home and is perfect as a light evening meal with some salad, or as a finger food or starter.

For the base you’ll need a bread dough, if you don’t feel up to making your own or don’t have the time you can buy a ready-made pizza base which works pretty well too or if you are in France you can buy a raw bread dough in your local boulangerie or supermarket.

 Ingredients :

  • 500g bread dough
  • 20cl crème fraîche
  • 200g fromage blanc
  • 2 onions
  • 300g of lardons
  • Rapeseed oil
  • Salt, pepper and nutmeg

Method :

  1. Pre-heat oven to its hottest setting 250° – 270°
  2. Finely slice the onions and fry them gently over a low heat until they become translucent
  3. Do the same with the bacon
  4. Mix the crème fraîche, the fromage blanc with the pepper, nutmeg and salt (if using, the lardons may be salty enough!)
  5. Roll the dough as thinly as possible on a baking sheet
  6. Using a spatula, cover the dough evenly with the cream mixture
  7. Spread onions and lardons on top
  8. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the dough looks crispy

*  You can add cheese or mushrooms etc. to your flammeküche if you wish 🙂