These little golden boulders might not look it, but they’re light, cheesy, cloud-like and incredibly moreish. Gougères are France’s gift to cocktail parties the world over. They’re easy enough to make at home – just don’t open the oven before they’re ready
The project.
“Describe a gougère to someone who’s never had one and they sound a bit like a fancy cheese puff. But these savoury choux buns (usually made with cheese) are so much more than that – they’re a guaranteed crowdpleaser, especially when served warm from the oven alongside a glass of something chilled and fizzy. Sure, they might not have the fancy look of some canapés, but what they lack in looks they more than make up for in flavour.
Strictly speaking, a classic gougère is unfilled; it gets its flavour from the cheese added to the dough, but I like to amp up the flavour and create a little textural contrast by filling them with a creamy sauce. I find the punchy tang of blue cheese works particularly well in a gougère, as it’s sharp enough to cut through the richness of the pastry.”
Saint Agur gougères
Makes about 16
Hands-on time 45 min
Oven time 25 min
Specialist kit Piping bags
(optional)
Bake a batch of these moreish morsels and watch them get hoovered up by anyone within a five-metre radius. They’re pillowy, cheesy, crisp and creamy all at the same time: brown food at its best.
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 55g salted butter
• 3 medium free-range eggs
• 110g Saint Agur Blue Cheese,
crumbled
For the sauce
• 15g salted butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 120g milk
• 40g Saint Agur Blue Cheese,
crumbled
1 Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7 and line 1 large or 2 medium baking sheets with baking paper. In a small bowl, weigh out the flour and mustard powder. Put 160ml water, the 55g butter and a pinch of salt in a pan over a medium heat and cook until the butter has melted and the mixture comes to a simmer.
2 As soon as the butter mixture starts simmering, add the prepared flour mixture, turn the heat down to low and beat quickly with a wooden spoon to make a smooth dough. Keep stirring for a few minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan (see Tips For Success). Scrape the dough into a bowl and set aside to cool for 1 minute. Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs in a jug.
3 Beat most of the eggs into the dough gradually, a little at a time, until the mixture reaches dropping consistency (see Tips For Success) – you won’t need all the egg, so keep checking (reserve any leftover egg for later). Crumble in three quarters of
