My grandma’s Gougère recipe (cheese choux pastry)
If you have travelled to Burgundy, you may have tried the Gougère, small cheese puffs, that French people usually have with an aperitif. I will share with you my grandma‘s Gougère recipe!
The Gougère origin is not confirmed, however, Catherine de Médécis cooks were already baking it in the 16th Century!
The Gougère can be baked as small puffs or a crown as my grandma used to do it.
The Gougère is done based on the traditional French puff recipe; you can then stuff it or decorate it as you wish.
I like the simple and traditional cheese choux pastry like my grandma‘s Gougère recipe!
Ingredients for the best Gougère (cheese choux pastry)
250g flour
400g water
150g butter
75g grated gruyère (comté or emmental are also good)
6 eggs (+1 yolk optional)
salt
My grandma’s preparation
We start making the choux pastry, the same way you would do it for the traditional puffs.
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, boil the water together with salt and diced butter.
Out of the fire, add the flour at once and start stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until you get very smooth dough. Put it back in a light fire for a few seconds to dry it out if needed.
Let the dough cool down for a few minutes, then add the eggs, one after another. Make sure that each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one.
Add grated emmental cheese to the dough and let it rest for one hour.
Most recipes do not suggest letting the dough rest. This will give a lighter gougère. However, if you are running out of time, you can skip this step.
Using 2 coffee spoons, distribute the dough onto a buttered baking tray, leaving space between each gougère.
You can add some egg yolk with a brush to make them even more golden or spread some extra grated cheese on top of each gougère.
Finally, bake it for about 25 minutes at 200°C (Th 6-7). Regularly check the baking without opening the oven door. The gougère should be golden, firm, and, of course, puffed!
Bon appétit!
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For more French traditional family recipes, check out these other posts:
My mum’s veal stew with vanilla! One of my favourite dishes!
My Grandma’s Savoie cake recipe
My Grandma’s tart Tatin recipe
Navarin of lamb: My mum’s recipe inspired by Paul Bocuse
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