Gougeres: October 1, 2010 Friday with Dorie

Cream Puff Version--Filled With Chocolate Pudding



My Baked Gougeres

Today was my day for office chores like pay the bills and take care of numerous paperwork problems. Got up early and went to the office, worked on some assignments, came home with lots of issues to work on...like figure out the amount due October 1st for property taxes and insurance payments, review past due amounts on our accounts receivable, find lost invoices, get a lease ready for a new tenant, get ready for payday tomorrow, and so on,...by early afternoon, I was ready for a personal reward ...to cook for my "Friday with Dorie" experience; to try a new recipe and to enjoy my own little puffs of toasty, cheesy, deliciousness: Gougeres (page 4, Around my French Table, Dorie

Greenspan.)


A Cheese I Had Not Yet Tried...It Is A Cheese to Rave About!

Yesterday I took a Sam's Club break to look over their newly remodeled cooler section that has a new cheese section...and I found the suggested Gruyere cheese, imported from Switzerland. This is a cow's milk, quite hard, fairly traditional Swiss type cheese, but without the holes. I needed less than a half pound, the cost was about $11 per pound, and it grated nicely. I had all the other ingredients at home...nothing unusual. Just milk, butter, flour, and eggs. The kind of ingredients I always have. I could have used a cheese from my fridge, however, I wanted to try the suggested cheese from the recipe for something new.

This Gorgeous Grated Cheese Is Soooooo Fragrant!

I have enjoyed making cream puffs and eclairs for years, and Dorie's recipe was similar. Because I wanted to share tastes of my efforts, I doubled the recipe, and then I re-made a second doubled recipe using instead a jalapeno cheddar cheese that I had purchased last week at Sprouts natural foods store.

I Use My Pastry Bag To Make Pretty Puffs

My daughter, Stephy-Weffy was visiting, and she was my first taster. She preferred the jalapeno cheese puffs. She prefers cheddar cheeses, and, being an Arizona family, we love the Mexican influences in our foods. The jalapeno flavors came through nicely (my 7 month old granddaughter also tasted each type of puff and also preferred the jalapeno cheddar...I was surprised!).

See The Specks of Jalapeno Pepper Created By Using This Cheese?

My Taster Basket of Cheese Puffs

Then I filled a basket with my puffs, and headed for the office where everyone tried my delicate, still warm, little puffs. The consensus was about 50/50 for the preferred type of cheese. It was suggested that I might consider inserting a slice of ham, or serving them with soup or with a fish dinner...all these ideas sound delicious to me.

Next, I traveled further down the road where I found my daughter, Beckbug and another granddaughter, the American Matryoshka Doll, and they both tried my puffs. They too are making the puffs and will try a sharp cheddar cheese. Their puffs will be part of a dinner that will include potato soup, using the same type of sharp cheddar cheese. They will save a taste of their puffs for me to compare. (I sampled their puffs later, and the sharp cheddar cheese flavor was incredibly delicious. I would not use a mild cheese...the puff ingredients "water down" the cheese flavor making the sharpness not so defined, but actually the flavor was quite addicting.)

I have some puffs left for tomorrow. I plan to heat them in the hot oven for just a few minutes and then serve them with my dinner, all warm and yummy again.

And now, my doll of a granddaughter wants to make cream puffs, using a similar recipe, with chocolate on top, and a very creamy filling. I think I will comply with her wishes...sounds good to me! (Actually it sounded too good to resist, so they got made, filled with chocolate pudding and sprinkled with powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa on top.) (See top photo)

Note: I made the regular cream puffs with the same recipe, less the cheese and one egg. My usual recipe calls for 1 cup water instead of 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water. The milk makes a softer dough and so for these cream puffs I prefer a crisper finish and will use only water next time around. Also, I prefer to keep the oven at 425^ for 15 minutes, and then turn it down to 325^ for 20 minutes, also helping to create a crisper finish and to bake a pastry that does not settle when out of the oven. I will go back to the hotter oven and longer baking time next time ...which will be soon!