Notes about the recipe: The first dish I ever made by myself (I think it was from a Kraft booklet my mother had lying around) was, oddly enough, a cheese souffle. I didn’t know that souffles were hard to make — and it wasn’t. Cheese souffles are simple because of the cheese, which lends body and structure. It was from that recipe that I picked up the trick of adding mustard to melted cheese; you don’t taste the mustard, but the cheese tastes more cheesy. A gougere is an irresistible bite-size cheese souffle, best served right out of the oven. Any tasty Swiss-style cheese will do here; fol epi is a young version. You can tell how old a Swiss cheese is by the size of the holes; they get larger as the cheese ages.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 40 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 50 to 70 pieces |
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup grated fol epi (young French-style Swiss cheese), Gruyere, or other Swiss cheese
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Heat the milk and butter in a medium-large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the mixture simmers and the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and stir. Add the salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to dry the mixture out. Turn off heat and stir a bit more to cool slightly.
- Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate each egg before adding the next. Stir in the cheese, mustards, and cayenne and mix until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a large plain tip.
- Pipe the mixture onto to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in rows of kisses, about 1- inch in diameter.
- Smooth out any bumps with a fingertip dipped in flour.
- (The recipe can be made to this point up to 8 hours in advance and refrigerated, or frozen for up to a week. Thaw at room temperature before baking.)
- Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue baking until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes more.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 227 |
| Total Fat | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Cholesterol | 116 mg |
| Sodium | 214 mg |
Reviews
Taste and texture…WOW! Similar to basic gougere recipes, this one has the addition of mustard (wet and dry and cayenne pepper. Made these and served with chili. Terrific! Try it. You’ll like it! Annie , Fremont , CA
I’ve tried many different gougere recipes, but this is by far the best one out there. It is simple, requires no fancy machinery and the result is fantastic. I’ve made these for so many parties and holiday get togethers and each time someone will request the recipe. They are delicious with red wine and will be the hit of any party.
I would describe these as more of a cheese cream puff (without filling, of course). They turned out good and looked nice – pretty much like the picture.
My husband made these for a supper club dinner and they were fantastic! Everyone was quite impressed by how great they tasted and the truth is, they were sooooo simple!
I thought this was a great pate choux recipe. Not at all difficlt to make and the entire tray that I made for my book club disappeared in no time! Mine looked much like the photo and were very soft and fluffy tasting. I will make this (and variations thereof) many times to come.
I’m no professional cook, so things don’t always come out perfect, but when a recipe sucks – it sucks. This does not look like the picture, nor does it taste good. This is way too much egg; it’s heavy, not fluffy; at best these are dinner bisquits.