Choux Pastry With Cheese = Cheese Puffs
Who doesn’t love cheese puffs? Or as the French call them – gourgères. They are always a hit, especially at parties. They are a perfect snack for just about every holiday. A hot batch of cheese puffs can even make a Valentine swoon. This is one of those snacks that, when passed out to family or guests, really make you shine. It isn’t just because these puffs have a powerful ingredient in them – cheese – it is also because they are light and cripsy. Very Intense Cheese Flavor + Lightness + Crispiness = Winner! And they are so easy to make that they will be a mainstay at parties for years to come. To make a great cheese puff, a choux pastry foundation is needed. This is one of those pastries that makes a lot of different desserts like eclairs and profiteroles (aka cream puffs), but the savoury options, like cheese puffs, should not be overlooked.
The interesting thing about choux paste is that most other pastry doughs are lessons in gentility and making sure that only the least bit of gluten is developed to make sure things stay tender and flaky. Not so with choux pastry. Choux paste is a lesson in gluten building – lots of liquid, heat, stirring all add up to gluten formation. Choux paste is a goopy sort of dough. Sure, there is some fat in the mix, but this is a pretty sturdy paste and creates a pretty sturdy pastry. That does not mean it is tough, no! Pastry made from choux paste can still be light and delicate. The other interesting piece about choux pastry is that no leavening agents are needed. Steam does all the work!
The making of cheese puffs from choux paste is a simple modification – the addition of shredded cheese directly to the paste. Just mix it right in. What kind of cheese? Classically, gruyere is used. Gruyere is a delicious cheese and makes a great cheese puff. Any sharp, full flavored cheese will work. Regardless of the cheese, I like to add a fair amount of black pepper to mine to give them some extra oomph. The extra pepper makes it a sure fire beer snack!
A pastry bag and piping tip can be used to pipe the choux paste out onto the baking trays, but a spoon works, too. If you use a pastry bag, insert the tip and then wrap the bag over a large glass with the piping tip inside the glass. This will make it easier to fill the piping bag with the paste.
Here is how I make my peppery cheese puffs…
- 1 cup of milk
- 4 tbsp of butter
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup of flour
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup of shredded gruyere cheese
- 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a medium pot, add the milk, salt, pepper and butter. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
- When the mixture is boiling and the butter is melted, pour in all the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat to low. Keep stirring until the dough comes off the side of the pan and comes together as a dough - about 1 minute. Keep stirring for another minute to cook the floury taste from the dough.
- Turn off the heat.
- Add one egg directly into the pot stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon to incorporate the egg into the dough. After the egg is added, the dough will be clumpy and sticky, but will come back together when the egg is fully incorporated. Repeat this step until all the eggs are incorporated and the dough is a thick paste. A hand mixer can be used to incorporate the eggs instead of a wooden spoon.
- When all the eggs are incorporated, stir in the cheese.
- Let the dough cool and transfer it to a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch plain or star piping tip. A plastic bag with a corner cut off and a piping tip inserted can also be used. A tablespoon can also be used to portion the paste instead of a piping bag.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Pipe or spoon tablespoon dollops of the paste onto the parchment paper.
- Bake the puffs in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until they are deep golden brown and have puffed up. They should sound hollow when tapped.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
- The cheese puffs can be frozen after baking in zip bags or other airtight containers. When ready to use the puffs, thaw them and reheat in the oven.
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