Gruyère Gougères

Name: Gruyère Gougères
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: ½ cup whole milk; ½ cup water; 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces; ¾ tsp kosher salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg; 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 5 eggs, room temperature; 6 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated, about 1 1/2 cups; ½ tsp flaky salt

French cheese puffs: choux paste beaten with Gruyère, black pepper and nutmeg, then baked until the shells are crisp, deep brown and hollow. Eat them warm.

Bake them darker than feels right, then break one open. The walls should be dry and the center hollow. Pale gougères look fine for two minutes and then sink. And keep the oven door shut for the first 20 minutes. Steam is what lifts them, and a draft drops them.

Ingredients

½ cup whole milk
½ cup water
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
5 eggs, room temperature
6 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated, about 1 1/2 cups
½ tsp flaky salt

Method

Heat the oven to 425°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment. Crack 4 of the eggs into a measuring cup with a spout. Beat the fifth in a small bowl and set it aside.
Bring the milk, water, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg to a full boil in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium. Take it off the heat, dump in the flour all at once, and beat hard with a wooden spoon until it pulls together into a ball.
Set it back over medium and keep stirring, smearing the paste against the pot, until a thin film forms on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. This dries the paste so it can take more egg, and more egg means more puff.
Move the paste to a stand mixer with the paddle and beat on low for 1 minute to let the steam out. It should be warm, not hot, or the eggs will cook. A wooden spoon and a strong arm also work.
On medium, add the 4 eggs one at a time, letting each go in fully before the next. The paste will look broken each time, then come back smooth.
Lift the paddle. The paste should fall in a slow ribbon and leave a hanging V on the paddle. If it's stiff and drops off in a clump, beat in the fifth egg a little at a time and stop as soon as you get the V.
Save a small handful of the Gruyère. Mix the rest in on low, about 15 seconds. Drop 1-tablespoon mounds on the pans, 1 1/2 inches apart. You should get about 36. Knock down any peaks with a wet finger, then top with the saved cheese and the flaky salt.
Slide both pans in and lower the oven to 375°F. Bake 20 minutes without opening the door.
Swap the pans top to bottom and bake until deep golden brown, firm and light in the hand, 8 to 10 minutes more. Break one open to check. If the center is wet, give them 5 more minutes.
Poke a small slit in the side of each with a paring knife so the steam gets out. Serve hot or warm. To make ahead, freeze the unbaked mounds on the pan, bag them for up to 1 month, and bake from frozen with about 5 extra minutes.