TARTINE'S GOUGERES



San Francisco's Tartine bakery is amazing. More often than not, this Guerrero Street institution has customers lined out the door for the copious and tempting baked goods.

When I had to stop eating wheat two years ago, my pilgrimages to Tartine were forced to end. Recently, my friend Sarah, who is an fantastic cook, loaned me her copy of the Tartine cookbook. I devoured it with my eyes. The photographs by France Ruffenach are stunning and totally capture the Tartine experience. My kids, P,  and I started drooling and bookmarking page after page of recipes to attempt at home. Before long almost every page and every photo had been chosen. Where to start with this irresistible book?

Gougeres..."the perfect combination of a crusty, caramelized outside and a soft eggy inside."


INGREDIENTS
from Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson's Tartine cookbook

  • 1 1/4 cup non-fat milk (non-fat is crucial to the success of this recipe)
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour ( GF folks, I used Pamela's Bread and Flour Mix)
  • 5 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup grated Gruyere
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
for topping:
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 pinch salt
  • grated Gruyere for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate cheese and set aside.
 


Place milk, butter, and salt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Let the butter melt and milk come to a full boil.



Then add the flour all at once.



Stir vigorously for a few minutes until the ingredients form a thick smooth dough.



Place the dough in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.



Add one egg at a time. Mix at medium speed until each egg is fully integrated before adding the next.


Using a rubber spatula, mix thyme, Gruyere, and pepper into the dough.


At this point the book suggests that you can use a pastry bag to make little gougeres. I don't happen to have a pastry bag, so I followed the directions for a larger, 4 inch sized gougeres. Simply scoop 3 inch mounds of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Brush the tops of each mound with lightly beaten egg and then sprinkle with extra Gruyere. Space about 2 inches apart.


These larger (sandwich roll)-sized gougeres should be baked in the oven for 35-45 minutes. According to Prueitt and Robertson, when the gougeres are done, they are "puffed, light for their size, and golden brown." When making this larger size, poke the cooked gougeres with a toothpick several times to allow steam to be released, this will help prevent collapse.


Serve warm or at room temp.

We ate a number of these tasty morsels straight out of the oven and then we saved a few to stuff with homemade tarragon chicken salad.

Otis remarked they are like an cheesy popover. Yum! 

Makes 8-10 large gougeres.

13 comments:

  1. boy these look yummy! And, I've also been baking with almond meal from Trader Joe's. Check it out and let us know...(unless I've missed that you have already). Banana bread is especially good.

    I'll make these soon I hope. xoxo genie

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  2. Beautiful photos! Recently purchased the Tartine cookbook - I think it sounds like you need your very own copy too. Gourgeres are one of life's simple pleasures and it is certainly hard to eat just one.

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  3. Ooh. These look nice. I love the color you managed to get on them. Do they deflate a bit or do they stay puffy?

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  4. Thanks for the comments Genie, Lisa and S. - your words are always appreciated here!

    Genie, I do use almond meal for some recipes but don't find that it works as a simple flour substitute. I do love to use it when I can because the flavor is so good. Yum!

    Lisa, so true that I do need to get my own copy of the Tartine book. It is so inspiring. Have you tried making the gougeres? They really are pretty easy.

    S. the gougeres do deflate after sitting for a while, but I really didn't mind. I think the Tartine tip of using a toothpick to poke holes for steam release does help a bit. And my guess is that the little ones would stay puffy much longer.

    Cheers!

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  5. I love Tartine!!!! and I'm one of those people patiently waiting outside in line, often....so worth it!!!

    This is amazing, that you're creating gluten-free versions of their beautiful treats! I really admire this :)

    your Gougeres are gorgeous, I'm salivating just thinking about them :)

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  6. Love, LOVE Tartine! I had lunch there a few months ago and was in love. I also went to Bar Tartine and had an equally amazing meal. I feel like eating 18 of these right now!

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  7. erin
    hooray for gougeres! so glad you love them as i do!
    your photos are -- as usual -- beautiful!
    hope we get to see you before you leave!
    sarah

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  8. I am always left drooling after ogling your pictures! Thanks for the food porn fix!!

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  9. I love that bakery too! Such a wonderful place! This recipe looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing it-- I don't have the cookbook!

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  10. OMG - so happy to have found you. Me and my son had to go gf this year and I so hate not being able to visit yummy bakeries. It's cruel! Have been baking up a storm at home instead so these will be on the menu today! Hope you get to Sydney - some fab eateries here. Travel safely.

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  11. I also had them! so delicious!
    http://deendeveras.blogspot.com/2011/07/tartines-gougeres.html

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  12. Yum!..... Wow, these look incredible. Thanks for the step-by-step photos…I’m sure they’ll come in handy when I attempt to make these!Or I use a pastry bag to squeeze them out - you get the nice round shape and a little pouf on top.

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  13. Looking forward to making these early tomorrow before it gets hot here in northern CA. Pate au choux was the first item I learned to bake from my French mum though I don't remember gougeres, but how can you go wrong with thyme and gruyere?. We always pricked them with toothpicks and have never made them bigger than a golf ball. These sound wicked-good to serve with chicken salad Veronique. I use a food processor to mix in the eggs, a no-fail tip I read somewhere.

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E