One of the most common types of cheese pastry is cheese puffs, also known as French gougeres. Cheese puffs are made by adding cheese to cream puff dough. The dough is piped into small rounds before being baked in a hot oven. These cheese pastries are often served as appetizers and can be made earlier in the day you plan to serve them at a dinner party. This article will show you how to make a cheese pastry.
1Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2Sift 1 cup (5 oz. or 140 g) flour and set aside.
3Bring 1 cup (.24 L) water, 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) salt, 1/2 cup butter (113 g or 1 stick) and 1 tsp. (5 ml) sugar to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Use high heat.
- You do not need to stir.
4Turn down the heat to medium.
5Stir in the sifted flour.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a mass and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 3 minutes. There will be a film on the sides of the pan.
6Put this mixture into a bowl and beat it with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of an electric mixture until it cools slightly, about 1 minute.
7Beat in 4 eggs and 1 egg white, one at a time.
- Make sure each egg is completely incorporated before you add the next.
- The batter may separate, but with continued beating it should come back together.
- When you pull a wooden spoon through the batter and the line it makes closes slowly, the batter is the right consistency.
- If necessary add more egg whites until the dough is the right consistency.
8Grate 3 oz. of dry cheese.
- Gruyere is a traditional choice for cheese puffs, but it is moist and heavy and can keep them from puffing well.
- Parmesan or aged Gouda both work well in cheese puffs.
- Grate the cheese very finely. You should have about 1 cup (.24 L.)
9Add 3/4 cup (2.25 oz. or 64 g) of cheese to the puff pastry dough.
- Stir with a wooden spoon.
10Add 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of paprika to the dough.
11Pipe the dough into small mounds on a parchment-lined pan.
- Place some dough in a pastry bag, refilling as necessary.
- Use a 1/3 in. (.84 cm) piping tip.
- Twist the top of the bag closed and squeeze a little dough out to remove any air bubbles.
- Squeeze gently and with even pressure on the upper end of the bag to form mounds of dough on the parchment-lined pan.
- The mounds should be about 1 in. (2.5 cm) wide and 2/3 in. (1.7 cm) high.
- Pipe the mounds so they are at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
- There should be about 40 cheese puffs.
12Make an egg wash.
- Beat a whole egg with 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) salt.
- If you want a darker glaze, you can add an egg yolk.
- If you want a lighter glaze, you can add an egg white.
13Brush the egg wash onto the cheese pastries.
14Sprinkle the pastries with the remaining 1/4 cup (.75 oz. or 21 g) of cheese.
15Bake for 20 minutes. Cheese puffs are done when they are golden brown.
- Rotate the pan halfway through cooking if your oven does not heat evenly.
16Freeze any extra cheese puffs.
- Allow the cheese pastries to cool completely.
- Spread them out on a baking sheet and cover them with plastic wrap.
- Freeze them and then transfer them to zippered storage bags. They can remain frozen for several months.
- Reheat them in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven.
- If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a zippered plastic bag. Just fill the bag with the dough and when you are ready to pipe it, cut off one corner and use that to pipe.
- Make sure your oven is completely preheated or your cheese pastries will not puff.
Things You'll Need
- 3 oz. (85 g) dry cheese, such as Parmesan or aged Gouda
- 1 tbsp. (15 ml) paprika
- 1 cup (.24 L) water
- 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) salt
- .5 cup butter (113 g or 1 stick)
- 1 tsp. (5 ml) sugar
- 1 cup (5 oz. or 140 g) flour, sifted
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg white
- 1 egg for the egg wash
- 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) salt for the egg wash
- Heavy-bottomed saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Parchment-lined pan
Sources and Citations
- Peterson, James. 2009. Baking. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley.