Gougère: A savoury choux pastry of French origin
Choux: A kind of light pastry, usually in the form of a small round cake, and with a filling, as of jelly or cream
The definitions above might be what you’d find in the dictionary if you looked up the word gougère. I’m not sure why they don’t use the much simpler definition of ‘Mmm…’.
What a wonderful introduction to French cooking and the French Fridays with Dorie cooking series. I may speak French, but I’ve never before cooked French. I realize now that I am long overdue.
This recipe requires few ingredients (the majority of which are pictured below), few kitchen implements, and contains few instructions, yet leads to fave reviews, making this an instant confidence booster for a beginning baker.
The most difficult part about making the gougères happens half way through the cooking time, when we are instructed to open the oven and adjust the position of the baking sheets to ensure for even cooking. This releases the alluring aroma of pastry and cheese into your home, stopping you from thinking of anything else. It’s all that you can do not to dive into one right at that moment.
The cheeses I chose to use for my most recent batch were a sharp, aged white cheedar and smoked jarlsberg. I look forward to trying it with many more delicious combinations.
I sent my first batch to a party, where my brother in law declared to everyone, “If there is anything you do tonight, you should eat one of those!”. What a wonderful compliment. Thanks Jesse, and lots of love to you. I think he deserves his own batch for that, doesn’t he?
These are destined for a rendezvous with a hot bowl of tomato soup, in lieu of the usual grilled cheese. They’re also begging to be stuffed with a cool crab salad.
Oh gougerères! The things that we’ll do together!
