French Laundry Gougeres

Warm Gruyere cheese puffs of pate a choux served as the welcome bite at The French Laundry.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 to 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese (plus extra for topping)
• Pinch of freshly ground white pepper and freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
2. In a saucepan, bring the milk, butter, and salt to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the pan, about 2 minutes.
3. Transfer the dough to a mixer and beat on low to release steam, then add 4 eggs one at a time, beating fully after each, until the dough is smooth and falls in a thick ribbon (add part of a 5th egg if needed).
4. Beat in 1 1/4 cups Gruyere, white pepper, and nutmeg.
5. Pipe or spoon 1-inch mounds onto the sheets, spacing them apart, and top each with a pinch of grated cheese.
6. Lower oven to 350 F, put the puffs in, and bake about 25 to 30 minutes until puffed, golden, and dry. Serve warm.

Notes

From Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook; serve them straight from the oven while the cheese is molten.