Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

Servings: about 40 pieces.

My first encounter of Gougère was in a restaurant in Dijon. Sure I’d had Choux Pastry in the form of eclairs and Indonesian Kue Sus (choux pastry filled with vanilla cream) but I’d not tasted the savoury ones before and I was blown away.

Little did I know that it was so easy to make. This is my first attempt using the fool-proof recipe from French Laundry (Modified). I ate a few of them for lunch with parsley omelette. Very complimentary.

Step-by-step instruction can be viewed here.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
100 g unsalted butter
1 tbsp salt or to taste
A pinch of sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 cup grated Gruyère (approx. 90-100 g) - I prefer the mild one for this purpose.
Freshly ground white pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a saucepan, combine water, butter, salt and sugar and bring to boil. Add the flour all at once, reduce the heat to medium and stir with wooden spoon for 2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and all the excess moisture has evaporated.

Transfer the ball into a bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat for about 30 seconds at medium speed to cool slightly. Add 4 eggs and continue beating until smooth and silky. Add the grated cheese and adjust the seasoning with more salt and white pepper.

Fill in a ziploc bag with the batter. Cut 0.5 cm from the tip and pipe the batter into 1 tsp mound on the baking sheet leaving approx. 5 cm between mounds (the batter expands). Bake for 7-8 minutes until the batter puffs and holds its shape. Lower the heat to 175 degrees Celsius and bake further for 20-25 minutes or until the Gougères are golden brown.

Serve hot.