Rosemary and Irish Cheddar Gougeres
by Karista Bennett
Spring seems to be a celebration all by itself. The landscape blooms out of a winter’s sleep, temperatures rise with occasional warm breezes, the days are longer and celebrations of the new season and festive occasions commence. For me, spring brings a long list of birthdays, Mother’s Day and Graduations, keeping the celebrations in motion for most of the season. As soon as one event ends, another one begins – keeping me on my culinary toes.
A celebration wouldn’t be complete without a table filled with delectable food. Food that celebrates not only the season, but the occasion. These Rosemary and Irish Cheddar Gougeres filled with thinly sliced baked ham are perfect for almost any celebration or occasion. With a light and airy savory choux dough, these French savory pastries are fun and completely delicious. Gougeres can be prepared with a variety of herbs, cheese and fillings. Most traditional is a simply prepared choux dough with water (sometimes a combination of water and milk), flour, eggs, butter and Gruyère, Comte or Emmentaler cheese. Of course, I like to mix it up a bit and add different herbs, cheese and fillings; creating the perfect gougeres for each occasion.
Rosemary and Irish Cheddar Gougeres
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup shredded Irish Cheddar ( I love Kerrygold Dubliner in these puffs)
- Thinly sliced baked ham for stuffing
- Serve with Strawberry Red Pepper Jelly or a spicy Red Pepper Jam (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 425F.
- In a medium sauce pan bring the water, butter, finely chopped rosemary and pinch of salt to a boil and give it a stir with a wooden spoon.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the flour, all at once, stirring as quickly as you can until the flour is incorporated and has formed a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- Next, transfer the flour mixture to an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add one egg at a time to the flour mixture until all the eggs have been added and the Gougeres mixture is glossy. Gently fold in the shredded cheese.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag with the Gougeres choux pastry and pipe out onto the parchment, about the size of 1-2 tablespoons.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until the Gougeres are deep golden brown. If they are too light in color, they won’t be baked long enough and will deflate when pulled out of the oven. So be sure to bake them until they have a deep golden brown both top and bottom.
- Cool the Gougeres on a wire rack and then gently open and fold in thin sliced ham. Serve with Strawberry Red Pepper Jelly or a spicy Red Pepper Jam.
YUMMY!!
Thanks Jim! 🙂
Hello, Karista,
These gougeres look gorgeous and I would like to serve them at a baby shower in 2 weeks. Can they be prepared in advance, and if so, please give me details.
Happy Spring. Thanks.
Judy
Hi Judy, I wish I could tell you they can be prepared in advance but they really need to be baked just before serving or at least an hour or two before serving. Although, you can prepare the dough a day in advance. Thank you for checking in and reading VRAI Magazine! Happy Spring to you too!
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