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.