Burgundy Cheese Puffs

By corlear

Les Gougères Bourguignonnes

During the vendanges at Château de Meursault, the grapes are picked by hand, with the bunches clipped whole so that the juice inside each grape cannot oxidize. Workers take their lunch among the vines, but on the last day of the harvest, long tables laden with food are set up in the old kitchen of the château, and everyone gathers to taste vin doux, the first fresh juice pressed from the white grapes. The wine has a rich bouquet and already a light sparkle.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
• pastry bag and 1-inch plain tube (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 425°F and butter one or two baking sheets.

Heat the water, butter, and salt in a saucepan until the butter melts. Bring just to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat. Add the flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and comes away from the sides of the pan in a ball, about 1 minute. Beat over low heat for 1 minute.

Off the heat, beat in 3 of the eggs, one at a time. Whisk the last egg until mixed. Now beat enough of this egg into the mixture to make a dough that is soft and very shiny. Stir in the cheese.

Either put the dough in a pastry bag and pipe 2-inch mounds on a baking sheet, spacing them well apart, or use two spoons to shape the dough. Bake in the heated oven until golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.