With Hanukkah starting this week and Christmas only two weeks away, many of you have entertaining on your mind. Let me take this moment to remind you of my favorite make-ahead hors d’oeuvres: gougères. One of the most classic French pre-dinner bites, gougères are small cheese puffs made with pâté à choux, which is the same dough that is used to make profiteroles and éclairs. In those cases, the dough is slightly sweetened, whereas here it is savory. But in both instances, you get that airy, puff-like texture. Gougères are so popular in France that you can buy boxes of frozen ones to have on hand whenever company drops in.
It might be harder to find frozen gougères stateside, but they are still the perfect hors d’oeuvres because you can make them ahead of time, freeze them and then bake them off — straight from the freezer — a half-hour before your company comes. Clearly, these magical little puffs are an entertaining secret that must be shared.
The last thing you need when planning a dinner party is to stress out about the hors d’oeuvres. But at the same time, you want to start off the evening with something special. Well my friends, the answer is here. Imagine serving your guests hot, airy puffs of cheesy goodness without any stress or dirty dishes. They will be so impressed and only you will know that you did the actual work of it days, or even weeks ago.
This recipe for gougères is adapted slightly from the one in Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful cookbook Around My French Table. Dorie — and I feel like we are on a first-name basis after I met her a few weeks ago — recommends using Gruyère or Comté cheese, which would certainly be very French. I like to use Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar for its wonderful sharp taste and to make this classic French dish more American. (Even Dorie confesses to using extra-sharp cheddar when she is back in the States.) I also add a pinch of cayenne pepper to my gougères for a subtle hint of spice.
Once you make the dough, you need to form the puffs right away, but the puffs can then be frozen on a tray until hard and stored in a plastic freezer bag until needed. Don’t bother to thaw the gougères before baking — they can go right from the freezer to the oven. Just add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
So for a convenient, make-ahead appetizer that will add a bit of European flair to your next dinner party, give this classic gougères recipe a try. Just try not let your guests fill up before dinner!
- 4 oz. (8 TB) unsalted butter
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp. salt
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 5 eggs at room temperature
- 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- If baking right away, preheat oven to 425.
- Place the water, milk and butter in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and turn heat down to low. Add salt and cayenne pepper.
- Add flour and stir mixture with a wooden spoon until it comes together.
- Continue to stir for two more minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.
- Remove pan from heat and pour dough into the bowl of a standing mixer or a large bowl.
- Using a standing mixer, handheld electric mixer, or a lot of elbow grease, beat the eggs into the dough one at a time. Make sure the egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- By the time you add the last egg, the mixture should be smooth and shiny.
- Add the grated cheese to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat baking mats.
- Using two soup spoons, place golf ball-sized mounds of dough on the baking sheets. (It is okay if they are not perfectly round.)
- If making ahead, freeze the mounds of dough on the trays until hardened. Then remove to a plastic freezer bag for storage.
- If using right away, place the trays in the oven and immediately turn down the heat to 375.
- Bake the gougeres for 26 minutes, rotating the trays 180 degrees halfway through. Make sure the gougeres are puffed and golden brown before removing from the oven.
- Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
Ha, I actually made these from her cookbook last week and froze them for my holiday party over the weekend. I planned to bake them before the party started but my timing was slightly off so I ended up pulling them out of the oven after people arrived–they barely made it to the serving plate 🙂
I bet your place smelled amazing too!
It smelled like baking cheese which is always a good thing
You know this is a recipe that we love. They are so easy, yet so elegant. Pillowy puffs of cheesy perfection.
Happy Hanukkah to you and your family, Emily, from all your friends at Cabot!
Thanks Candace for all your support this year! I am honored to work with Cabot. Best wishes for a wonderful 2015.