Gougères / French Cheese Puffs - KitchenAid Stand Mixer Series

Gougères or less fancily put, French Cheese Puffs are delicious little bites you could serve warm on their own or with wine. You could also split them and sandwich with your favorite filling. Either way, if cheesy, eggy is your kind of thing, you will love these! All the more, if you make these in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer as it takes care of the hard work for you!

Choux pastry is one of those amazing versatile things you can play around with, sweet or savory like these Cream Puffs and Creamed Corn In Savory Choux Puffs. The baked puffs are best eaten fresh and warm from the oven, but you can re-crisp them if needed. You can also pipe the dough and then bake later when needed( I have not tried that yet) 

It is not really difficult to make choux pastry, but yes, needs to done carefully for best results. You can read a few pointers in my post for cream puffs. Though I have made choux pastry a few times,I would shy away from baking them as you need some muscle strength for it. But now, it is hardly any effort with my KitchenAid Stand Mixer* 

If you have been considering buying a stand mixer or have just got one, please do watch my video which includes a brief about various models you can buy and using KitchenAid Tilt Head Stand Mixer* stand mixer. You can also read my post here. 

This recipe is from one of my absolute favorite authors, David Lebovitz. I found this recipe more forgiving than the others I have tried. What's more, David also reassures that deflated puffs are fine too! I would say, go for it! Puffed up or deflated, you will forget all about the shape once you pop one warm puff in your mouth!

Gougères. Recipe from David Lebovitz

Yield: 30 bite-sized puffs

Time needed: 40 minutes, including baking time

Equipment needed

Baking sheet lined with parchment

Heavy saucepan with handle

Strong Wooden spoon

Silicone spatula

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with paddle attachment

Pastry bag fitted with a wide plain round tip

Ingredients.

Please weigh ingredients for best results, measure carefully. 

Water – ½ cup / 120 ml

Very soft unsalted butter, cut into pieces – 40 grams

Salt – heaping ¼ teaspoon

Freshly ground black pepper – ¼ teaspoon or to taste

Onion powder - ½ teaspoon

Flour – 70 grams

Eggs – 2 large / 100 grams (without shell)

plus more if needed

Extra beaten egg, 2 -3 tablespoons, keep this separately

4 sprigs of fresh thyme, minced

Sharp cheddar or Gruyère, grated – 75 grams plus 25 grams for sprinkling on top

Method

• ·Preheat oven to 220C/425F.
• ·Mise en place, this is very important.
• Line your baking tray(s) with baking parchment. Alternatively, use a silicone mat.
• On medium heat, heat the butter, salt, pepper and water in a heavy saucepan. Let the butter melt.
• When the water comes to a boil, tip in all the flour and onion powder at once. You do not want the water to keep boiling or the liquid will be lost by evaporation.
• · Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the saucepan and forms a smooth ball. 
• · Take the pan off the heat, transfer the dough to the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment

• Let it cool for a couple of minutes. Do not add the eggs when the dough is hot or the eggs may ‘cook’.
• Starting the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time and then increase the speed to 2. The dough will appear lumpy at first, but it will soon become smooth, this may take a couple of minutes. (You will appreciate the stand mixer more, if you have ever tried doing this by hand, it is quite a workout!)
• Add a tablespoon or two of the extra beaten egg if needed. At the right consistency, the dough is supposed to stay on the spatula and then fall in a thick ribbon.  I used almost 120 grams of egg.
• Be careful as you add the egg, too much will cause the puffs to deflate (which is still fine, says the author, they will still taste good)
• Remove the bowl and stir in the cheese and thyme.
• Scrape the mixture into the pastry bag. Pipe into small mounds (about a large cherry tomato) spaced about an inch apart. Alternatively, use 2 spoons to drop the mixture. Top each puff with a little of the remaining cheese.
• Bake at 220C for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 190C and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown all over. This is important to avoid deflated puffs, cautions David.
• For extra crisp puffs, 5 minutes before they are done, poke each puff at the side with a sharp knife. That will release the steam.Bake them until crisp.

These taste best served warm. If necessary, the baked puffs can be re-warmed in a low oven for 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

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