I am still on the rosemary parmesan kick, and decided to try it out on gougères.  Gougères are essentially a savory rendition of the French creampuff or pâte à choux.   Most people hear pâte à choux or French pastry, and immediately equate it to a difficultly impossible situation that should not be attempted at any cost.  Do not let yourself be fooled.  As a kid I had a children’s cookbook that walked me through the steps for making pâte à choux for eclairs, and if a 6 year old can do it with a little bit of help from her mother, it should be a walk in the park for most adults.  Dorie Greenspan makes it particularly easy in her cookbook Around my French Table where she lays out clear and simple instructions for how to make gougères.  The recipe below is adapted from the recipe found in that book.

Gougères actually remind me of a Bolivian pastry known as the cuñapé, and a good, freshly baked cuñapé is inarguably my favorite bakery item. Ever.  I’ll have to make them sometime and post the recipe.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to find yuca or cassava flour locally, so it will have to wait until I can order it online or make a trip into the city.

Rosemary Parmesan Gougères

Recipe makes 1 dozen gougères.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Milk
• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 cup Flour
• dash of Salt
• 3 Eggs (room temp)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh Rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a sauce pan, bring the milk and butter to a boil.
4. Season with a dash of salt.
5. Whisk in the flour.  The dough will seized up fairly quickly, but you want to make sure that all of the flour gets fully incorporated before you remove the dough from the heat.
6. Remove the dough from the heat and allow the pan to cool slightly. ~1 minute.
7. With a hand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time.  Make sure that the egg is fully incorporated into the dough before adding the next egg.  The dough should become thick, sticky, and shiny.
8. Beat in the rosemary and parmesan cheese.
9. Immediately, scoop the dough out onto the baking sheet.  Try aiming for about 1 tbsp per scoop, and leave plenty of space (~2″) around each scoop for future growth.
10. Slide the baking sheet into the oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 375 degrees.
11. Bake for 22-24 minutes.  Turn and reposition the baking sheet around the 12 minute mark if your oven bakes unevenly.