Gougères

Light, airy and delightfully cheesy, gougères are one of France’s favorite hors d’oeuvres. Surprisingly easy to make, they’re cream puffs — pâte à choux (a.k.a. choux paste) — combined with grated cheese, then spooned or piped onto a baking sheet and baked. 

Some recipes call for milk in the batter for nice browning; others use water, which makes a lighter, airier puff. We call for half milk and half water, for the best of all possible worlds.

If you want to be fancy, use a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch) to pipe the gougères, rather than using a spoon.

Makes 32 gougères.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (118 ml) water

1/2 cup (118 ml) milk

1/4 cup (58 grams) unsalted butter (1/2 stick)