Miniature Gougeres Food

GOUGèRES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine1 cup water, butter, salt, and cayenne in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When butter melts, add flour. Reduce heat to medium low; stir constantly with a wooden spoon until dough pulls away from edges. The dough should not stick to fingers and will appear shiny and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl; let cool 5 minutes.
• One at a time, add 4 eggs; mix well between additions. Add Parmesan and chives; mix until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag with a plain 1/2-inch round tip (Wilton #1A). To form each gougere, pipe 1 teaspoon of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Allow 2 inches between each gougere. Push down peaks of dough with a finger dipped in water.
• Combine remaining egg with remaining tablespoon water; brush on gougeres. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes, until golden. Serve.

CHEESE PUFFS (GOUGERES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water with the milk, butter, sugar and salt and stir over low heat until the sugar, butter and salt have melted. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a healthy simmer.
• Take from the heat and immediately add the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens, is smooth and no flour lumps remain. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, until a film forms on the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring, careful not to scrape up the film, for a minute or two more.
• Transfer the mixture (panade) to a food processor. Mix for a minute to dissipate the heat. Add the eggs one at a time with the processor running. Pay attention to the consistency of the paste. It should be smooth and shiny, so you may only need 3 of the eggs. Stir in the cheese.
• Using a small cookie scoop, scoop generous mounds onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them an inch apart. Place in the oven, immediately reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese puffs are golden brown.

MINIATURE GOUGERES

Steps:

• Make pâte à chou
• In a heavy saucepan bring water to a boil with butter and salt over high heat and reduce heat to moderate. Add flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from side of pan.
• Transfer mixture to a bowl and with an electric mixer on high speed beat in 4 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Batter should be stiff enough to just hold soft peaks and fall softly from a spoon. If batter is too stiff, in a small bowl beat remaining egg lightly and add to batter, a little at a time, beating on high speed, until batter is desired consistency.
• Make Gougères
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
• In a small heavy skillet dry-roast seeds over moderate heat, shaking skillet, until fragrant and slightly darker, being careful not to burn them, 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a small bowl and cool. With a mortar and pestle or in an electric coffee/spice grinder grind seeds coarse.
• Stir Gruyère and 1 teaspoon ground seeds into pâte à chou and arrange level tablespoons about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Sprinkle tops of gougères with remaining ground seeds and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching positions of sheets halfway through baking, 30 minutes, or until puffed, golden and crisp. Gougères keep, chilled in sealable plastic bags, 2 days or frozen 1 week. Reheat gougères, uncovered, in a preheated 350°F. oven 10 minutes if chilled or 15 minutes if unthawed frozen. Serve gougères warm.

MINI GOUGERES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats; set aside.
• In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water, butter, and salt to a boil. Immediately remove from heat. Add flour all at once, and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and a film forms on the bottom, about 30 seconds.
• Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat 4 eggs into the batter one at a time, on medium speed, letting each one incorporate completely before adding the next. Add the cheese, and continue beating batter until well combined. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (Ateco #9807) and pipe into 1-inch mounds on the prepared baking sheets. Beat the remaining egg; brush each mound with some of the egg to glaze. If a pointy tip has formed on top, gently use your finger to flatten it.
• Bake until puffed, golden, and the center is slightly damp but no wet dough remains (test by cutting into the center of one), about 25 minutes. Let gougeres cool slightly before removing from baking sheet. Serve warm.