For any house party, snacks are a must, and there’s nothing better than a dish that can be made quickly. With cream puffs as a base, these delicious gougères will be the talk of your party. A quick tip: while preparing the dough, make sure to cook it properly until it stops sticking to the sides of the pot. And to get that perfect crispiness and risen gougères, boiling the water helps.
Ingredients
● 3 tablespoons salted butter, cut into cubes
● ¼ teaspoon black pepper
● ½ cup water
● 3 large eggs
● ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
● ½ cup (about 2 1/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
● 1 ¼ teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme, divided
● 3 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup), divided
● ½ ounce sevruga caviar (1 tablespoon)
● 1 ounce sliced prosciutto
● ½ cup crème fraîche
● ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
● 1 ounce smoked salmon, sliced
Directions
● Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
● Take a medium-sized saucepan and add water, salt, butter, and pepper to it. Heat it for one minute over a medium flame to melt the butter. Add all the flour in one go, and keep stirring it continuously until the mixture has dried and stops sticking to the sides of the pan; this will take around two minutes.
● Take the pan off the heat and transfer the mixture into a bowl. Beat the mixture until it is cool. Add eggs while beating the mixture and beat until they’re mixed properly. Continue beating until the batter is smooth. Once it has reached its desired texture, stir 1 teaspoon of the thyme and 1/2 cup of the Gruyère into it.
● Pour the batter into a ziplock bag with a 1-inch hole cut in one of its corners. Twist the bag’s top and pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheet in a 1 1/2-inch mound.
● Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyère equally over each mound. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. With a small knife, poke each gougère on the side after removing the baking sheet from the oven. Gougères should be baked again in the oven for five more minutes at 400°F. Once done, remove them and let them cool on a baking pan for 10 minutes. Pour crème fraîche over the gougères evenly (about 1 teaspoon each). Add caviar, lemon zest, and smoked salmon to the top half of the gougères and spread it out evenly. Top the other half of the gougères with prosciutto and the final 1/4 teaspoon of thyme.
● Your Gougeres are not ready to be served!