Gougères are magic. You whisk together a very simple batter — a little milk, flour, eggs, and cheese — and then use a pastry bag to pipe fluffy mounds of it onto a baking tray. Easy, no? But they come out of the oven very puffy, like a cross between a popover and a cheese soufflé — light as a cloud, packed with cheesy flavor, and just the right size to pop in your mouth. That’s a dangerous trifecta: in the test kitchen, people kept coming back for “just one more,” and our gougères disappeared in a few ecstatic minutes.

Gougères will be splendid at any kind of New Year’s Eve party because they’re so tonally neutral — they have all the gleeful appeal of a really, really good snack and all the pillowy gravitas of a fancy appetizer. They also happen to taste amazing with a bottle of sparkling wine. We paired ours with J Cuvée 20 Brut from J Vineyards: its light bubbles, green apple notes, and bright finish are just the thing to clear the way for another (and another, and another) gougère.

Servings: 28 gougères

Ingredients

½ cup water

½ cup milk

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Large pinch kosher salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 Large Gelson’s eggs

1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter, and salt and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.

4. Add the flour, and stir it in with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Lower the heat, and stir until the dough dries out and pulls away from the pan, about 2 minutes. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer and cool for 1 minute.

5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly between each one.

6. Add the cheese and a pinch each of pepper and nutmeg.

7. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag, cut a 1/2-inch wide opening at the tip, and pipe tablespoon-size dollops onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. If you have batter peaks, dip your finger in a little water and smooth them down.

8. Lightly sprinkle with cheese and bake for 22 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Go easy on the cheese: too much will weigh down the gougères.

9. Transfer the gougères to a plate and serve hot.

Recipe source: Food&Wine

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