Gougere
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup water
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1stick butter
- 1cup sifted flour
- 4eggs
- 1cup finely shredded Gruyere cheese
- ½cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½teaspoon dried thyme
- Freshly ground black pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
282 calories; 20 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a nine-inch flan ring or a cake tin that has a removable bottom.
- Step 2
Combine water, salt and butter in a saucepan. Simmer until the butter melts, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the flour all at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the paste is smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to film the bottom of the pan.
- Step 3
Remove from heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well to thoroughly incorporate each. (The paste can be put into the bowl of a food processor and the eggs added one at a time and processed with the steel blade until blended.)
- Step 4
Transfer paste to a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Spoon rounded tablespoons of this mixture close together in a ring inside the cake ring or flan ring. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about one hour, until the gougere is brown and firm to the touch. Cool briefly and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
This is much easier than it seems when you first read the recipe. See my other note for good shortcuts.
If you make it once, I predict you'll be making it often. It's a great contribution to potlucks, and it's so rich and delicious that at home all you need is this gougère ring plus a soup or a salad to make a satisfying and delightful meal.
PS: I have frozen it unbaked on an ovenproof platter, then baked it off un thawed (adding about 7 minutes) with perfect results.
Delicious basic gougère ring.
Tips: Reduce salt by half – the cheeses are salty; use electric hand mixer on low for every step right in the sauce pan, including adding the eggs – easier and works perfectly; include some tiny cubes of Gruyère along with the grated; paint top of unbaked ring with beaten egg white for shine; preheat oven to 400, then reduce to 375 immediately after putting dish in; bake ring directly on an ovensafe round porcelain platter so the dish can go directly to table.
It is not necessary to transfer paste to a mixing bowl or food processor at any point--for ease of cooking and of cleanup just do the whole thing in the saucepan (or saucier if you have one; no corners for bits to get stuck).
After the eggs are incorporated, add the cheese and herbs and pepper and mix it up. (Or herbs and pepper can go in with the water at the beginning).
Or bake in a oval casserole dish, and top with steamed asparagus and hollandaise sauce or beurre blanc for a supremely lovely spring dish (inspiration from the Joy of Cooking cookbook which is out of print but had a great recipe for this which we made often growing up, when we could harvest asparagus from the garden)
I used a coarse and an extra coarse microplane to get different size ribbons of gruyere. In my experience, Jarlsberg doesn’t melt at all properly, even for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Delicious basic gougère ring.
Tips: Reduce salt by half – the cheeses are salty; use electric hand mixer on low for every step right in the sauce pan, including adding the eggs – easier and works perfectly; include some tiny cubes of Gruyère along with the grated; paint top of unbaked ring with beaten egg white for shine; preheat oven to 400, then reduce to 375 immediately after putting dish in; bake ring directly on an ovensafe round porcelain platter so the dish can go directly to table.