Gougères... sort of

Gougères in French cuisine are baked savory choux pastries that are made and baked with cheese.

Ours are not exactly the French kind of gougère because we didn't use any French cheese to bake ours and used the Italian Parmesan to bake ours instead. Why? Simply because we have used up all our Gruyère to bake our Gruyère Brioche Braided Breads - That's why! - LOL!

Whether being truly French gougères, we are loving ours a lot! I have made these fantastic gougères using Delia Smith's fail-proof choux pastry recipe with a few inspirations from Curtis Stone with this recipe and David Lebovitz with this recipe.

Why using Delia Smith's choux pastry? You have to believe me that this recipe is brilliant!!! Absolutely fuss-free that I don't even need an electric mixer to beat the eggs into the flour mixture to bake these wonderful treats. Just a wooden spoon and my arm muscles can do the job very well!

What do you think? Brilliant?

Our gougères made with Parmesan cheese

All I need is a saucepan and a wooden spoon to make this pastry dough.

See this recipe works! Happy to see these puffing up!

Slicing one to see what's inside?

I reckon we need more cheese to enjoy these gougères...

Yeah. More cheese is good!

My son and I are happy playing with our food! This is so not-French fine dining!

Here's the recipe mostly adapted from Delia Smith

Make 7 x 6 cm choux pastry buns

Place 75 ml of cold water in a medium-sized saucepan together with 25g of butter, then place the saucepan over a moderate heat and stir with a wooden spoon.

As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture comes up to the boil, turn off the heat immediately, as too much boiling will evaporate some of the water. Then tip 30g bread flour in – all in one go – with one hand, while you beat the mixture vigorously with the other. You can do this with a wooden spoon, though an electric hand whisk will save you lots of energy. Beat until you have a smooth ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean – this will probably take less than a minute. Allow mixture to cool down slightly before proceeding.

Next, beat 1 large egg well, then beat them into the mixture – a little at a time, mixing each addition in thoroughly before adding the next. Beat until you have a smooth glossy paste. Then, mix in 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

To make the choux buns, pipe or place teaspoons of the mixture on the non-stick baking mat or well-greased baking sheet, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) between them, then bake on a high shelf in a pre-heated oven at 425°F (or 200°C fan forced) for 10 mins. After that, decrease the heat to 380°F (160°C fan forced), and bake for a further 25 mins until the buns are crisp, light and a rich golden colour.

After baking, allow choux pastries to cool in the oven with its door ajar. To serve, slice the completely cooled buns with halves and sprinkle extra cheese (I used Australian tasty cheese) on the pastries and grill them in the oven until the cheese melts. Stick the halves back together and enjoy them while the cheese is warm and stretchy.

Happy Baking
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