Cheddar Cheese Puffs (Gougéres)

This one is a real crowd pleaser. Start any festivity with these savory salt-topped cheese puffs and sparkling wine. They also make a great snack that you can't stop eating.

According to Wikipedia a  gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese. There are many variations. Gougères are said to come from Burgundy, particularly the town of Tonnerre in the Yonne department. In Burgundy, they are generally served cold when tasting wine in cellars, but are also served warm as an appetizer. Gougères can be made as small pastries, 3–4 cm in diameter; aperitif gougères; 10–12 cm, individual gougères, or in a ring. Sometimes they are filled with ingredients such as mushrooms, beef, or ham.

I never made either cream or savory puffs before. But my mom often made large cream puffs filled with sweet whipped cream for Sunday afternoons. She was very good at it and could make them in no time. She used the eggs from her chickens and fresh cream from her farm in Germany. Her cream puffs were large and filling. In Germany, people visit each other in the afternoon to have coffee and sweets. I don't know why I never made them myself and I only ate them when my mom made them. They are called Windbeutel in German, which means bags of wind. I like that name. 

When I found this recipe for savory little puffs, I was ready to try them. This is another old recipe from Sunset magazine that was tacked away in my appetizer folder. They were my third appetizer for my book club meeting and everybody liked them. What made these puffs so tasty and good was the strongly flavored, aged cheddar I used and my crunchy sea salt crystals. These little treats are best eaten on the day they are baked. Freeze the rest on a flat sheet and then put them in an airtight container. I put mine in a ziplock plastic bag. If you  keep them until the following day, zip them for a few seconds in the microwave. That is what I did with my leftovers. I have to say they are quite addictive. 
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In the meantime we had our second book club meeting. The Shoppenhauer Cure got mixed reviews. Some people liked it and some did not. We are now reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.

These little treats are best eaten on the day they are baked. Freeze the rest on a cookie sheet and then put them in an airtight container. I put mine in a ziplock plastic bag. Thaw and reheat for 5 minutes  uncovered in the oven at 375 Fahrenheit. 
The cheese and salt will make or break this recipe. I used a good coarse, crunchy fleur de sel from France and an aged cheddar from Whole Foods.

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Ingredients
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This recipe makes about 60 cheese puffs 

1 ½ cup of water
½ cup (¼ lb) 115g butter, cut into chunks
​1½ cups  ( 70gram) all-purpose flour 
6 large eggs, beaten, at room temperature 
1  1/4 cups  ( 60gram) sharp shredded cheddar cheese
1½ tsp. fresh-ground pepper
Coarse sea salt (fleur de sel)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Have all the ingredients ready
In a 3 to 4-quart pan over high heat, bring the water and the butter to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add the flour all at ounce. With a whisk or wooden spoon, stir until the mixture is a smooth, thick paste with no lumps. Add a quarter of the beaten eggs at a time, beaten vigorously after each addition, until the dough is no longer slippery. Stir in the cheese and pepper. 
Spoon the dough in a large pastry bag fitted with a plain ½-inch round tip. Pipe in 50 to 60 equal rounds on two cooking parchment-lined baking sheets. If you don't want to use a pastry bag, you can drop the dough onto the baking sheet in rounded tablespoon-sized portions. Sprinkle each mound with some coarse sea salt. 
Bake in a regular or convection oven until dry and somewhat browned, between 18 to 30 minutes depending on your oven. Mine took about 18 minutes on a convection-bake cycle.  it will take about 30 minutes using regular heat. Serve warm, but they also taste great at room temperature.

Gutten Appetit
Recipe from Sunset Magazine
adapted by©Sunnycovechef.com
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