Month: October 2020

The only cocktail snack you need: Gougeres

I think I’ve said this before.  But, it bares repeating.  If you aren’t following David Lebovitz on Instagram (@davidlebovitz) you are missing out on some of the most gorgeous Parisian instagramming out there.  I enjoy following his daily life as much as I enjoy his recipes and cooking.

The first time I made choux pastry, this blog wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye.  TD and I were newly married and had finally settled into our  house in Westchester (we closed escrow and walked down the aisle within six weeks of one another).  I’d made a turkey and wild rice soup and was following a recipe for what I thought was a wreath of dinner rolls (oh the enthusiasm of newly minted matrimony).

The technique seemed unusual: melt butter and water together and stir in flour almost like a roux.

Then add seasonings and cheese.  Lots of cheese.

I had no idea I was about to fall in love with pate a choux by way of gougeres.  This is actually the first of three weeks of recipes involving pate a choux, the ever versatile puff of crunchy, airy pastry.  It started this summer with a recipe for Paris Brest (the third I’ll post) and then I realized I didn’t have a gougeres recipe on here.  So, we’re going to go backwards to go forwards.

Options with these cheese puffs are expansive (and very satisfying to think about).  Here, I’ve used grueyre and cayenne. But, I’ve made them with blue cheese and black pepper and even cheddar and chili powder (to surprisingly good…if not very French results).  My friend Ann Mah’s favorite version uses Comte.

Gourgeres

makes about 20

adapted just a bit from David Lebovitz

Ingredients

  • 1/2 C (125ml) water
  • 3 TBS (40g) butter, cut into cubes (he says salted or unsalted, your choice)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • big pinch of chili powder, a few turns of black ground pepper or my favorite, a nice shake of cayenne
  • 1/2 C (70g) flour
  • 2 large eggs at room temp
  • 2 tsp minced chives or other fresh herbs
  • 3/4 C (about 3 ounces, 90g) grated cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Have a pastry bag at the ready.  Use a 1/2 inch tip if you like, I don’t bother (any piping will be lost) and just snip the end at just under 1/2 inch.
  2. Grate your cheese, set aside. Set up your stand mixer.  Also, a ziplock bag works just fine if you don’t have a pastry bag.
  3. Heat water, butter, salt and pepper (or other dry seasonings) in a saucepan until butter is melted.
  4. Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture pulls away from the sides into a smooth ball.  Remove from heat and let rest two minutes to cool down.
  5. Scrape dough into the standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can do this next bit by hand, but you don’t really want to).
  6. With the mixer on medium, add the eggs, one at a time.  The batter will look lumpy at first but will smooth out.
  7. Add 3/4 of the cheese and your fresh herbs.  Stir until well mixed.
  8. Scrape the dough into your prepared pastry bag.  Pup the dough onto your prepared sheet into mounds about the size of unshelled walnuts.
  9. Top each puff with a sprinkling of the remaining cheese.
  10. Into the oven and bake for 5 minutes.  Then, turn down over to 375 degrees and back for an additional 20-25 minutes, until they’re completely golden brown.  Don’t be afraid to let them get a little dark (darker than the ones pictured above).  Toasty cheese is superlative.
  11. These are best served warm.  If made in advance, crisp up before serving in a 350 degree oven.

Pan Thumped Snickerdoodles

There are times when I think I’ve done, baked, eaten and shared every cookie there is.

Luckily, each time my ego begins to slip in this direction, I stand corrected by something new and innovative that someone other than me thought up.

Case in point: pan thumping (and now you too will have the 1997  one hit wonder genius, Tub Thumping in your head).

Pan thumping’s (well, actually, banging…I just wanted you to join me in my Chumbawumba misery) mistress, Sarah Kieffer gives the fully skinny on the technique in her new book: 100 cookies: The baking book for every kitchen.  Arthur of the popular blog, The Vanilla Bean Blog, she discovered the ripply-edge effect of picking up and (gently) banging the edge of the pan of cookies starting at the half-baked mark while on a quest to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.

It’s a little like cookie dough whack-a-mole.  About halfway through the bake, you go in for the first bang, allow the cookies to puff up and then repeat at two (or so) minute intervals until your cookies are to desired doneness.  The result is a crispy ripply edge and chewy center.

Ms. Kieffer’s original pan banging recipe was for chocolate chip cookies.  I haven’t tried that recipe yet, but did jump right in with the snickerdoodle version.  Because it’s fall.  And cinnamon = fall.

The verdict: delicious and gorgeous.  The pan banging takes a little more attention (and time–you have to bake them one pan at a time), but the results were thin, crispy and chewy.  Basically snickerdoodle nirvana.

I did make one slight adjustment to the recipe, that I’d recommend if you already have the ingredient on hand.  Right before these cookies, I made a couple of my favorite chocolate cakes, Lori’s Chocolate Midnight Cake and used up the last of my vanilla.  Not willing to stop my baking process to run to the store, I subbed in a reduced amount of almond extract.  If you have some, try it out.  The difference is subtle but enough to make them a little unique.

And, just in case it’s still not stuck in your head.  I’ll leave this here:

(Pan Banged) Snickerdoodles

adapted just slightly from Sarah Kieffer

Ingredients

  • 2 C (184g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 C (227 g) unsalted butter at room temp
  • 1 3/4 C (350g) granulated sugar, separated
  • 1 large egg, room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp almond extract)
  • 1 TBS ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to center and pre-heat to 350 degrees.  Line three sheet pans with parchment (or aluminum foil, dull-side up).
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar and nutmeg.
  3. In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter on medium until creamy (about 1 minuye).  Add 1 1/2 C  (300g) of the sugar and beat until very light, 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla (or almond extract) and mix on low to combine.  Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together remaining sugar and cinnamon.
  5. For the dough into balls.  The original recipe calls for 3 oz balls.  I prefer a smaller cookie and used a 1 ounce scoop.  Roll each dough ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  6. Place on pan an equal distance apart (if 3 oz balls, you’ll fit about 4 on half-sheet pan.  Twice that if using 1 oz scooper).
  7. Bake the cookies one pan at a time.  Bake until the dough balls have flattened but are puffed slightly,  8 minutes (closer to 7 in my own oven).  Life one side of the sheet pan up about 4 inches and gently let it drop against the oven rack.  After the cookies puff up again, repeat.  Repeat a few more times, baking 14-15 minutes total, until the edges are golden brown but the centers are still lightish.
  8. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes.  After this, move to rack (no pan) to cool completely.