Gruyere Cheese Puffs
Gruyere Cheese Puffs are a brilliant little snack that’s easy to make and are perfect with your first round of drinks.
Under the crunchy exterior a soft centre awaits, and it is quite remarkable the contrast between the two. The first time we made these I wasn’t expecting such a lush soft centre; to look at these Gruyere Cheese Puffs you would expect them to be crunchy all the way through, but they hide a moist, delicate centre which will change your perception of these innocent little morsels.
Obviously the over-riding flavour is of cheese, but by using this Gruyere cheese, flavour is very deep and characterful; these are certainly for adults, as the slightly bitey matured cheese flavour is very savoury, especially when combined with Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and mustard!
Make a batch of these Gruyere Cheese Puffs for your next adult gathering and stand back and watch that plate empty in minutes, you might want to have another batch on stand by as these are a real treat and will go very quickly.
Gruyere Cheese Puffs
Equipment
- 2 Baking Trays
- Baking Parchment
- 1 Heavy bottomed, medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 118 ml Water 1/2 cup
- 43 grams Butter, cut into small pieces 1 1/2 ounces
- ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper or to taste
- 37 grams All purpose flour, sifted 1.3 ounces or 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
- ½ Tablespoon Dijon mustard smooth to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Worcester Sauce optional
- 2 Large Eggs
- 115 grams Coarsely grated Gruyere cheese or Swiss Cheese [4 ounces]
- Smoked paprika optional
Instructions
- Gather and weigh your ingredients. Position 1 rack in the top third of your oven and another rack in the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 220c [425F] Line the baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the water, butter, salt & pepper in a heavy bottomed, medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium/medium high heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to form a ball. Continue stirring until a film forms over the bottom of the saucepan- about 1-2 minutes.Remove the saucepan from the heat and beat in the mustard and Worcester sauce. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in the cheese.
- Drop the mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking trays, spacing them about 4 cm apart [1 1/2 inch]. Sprinkle a pinch of smoked paprika on top of the puffs and bake for about 10-12 minutes, then rotate the baking trays and bake until puffs are golden brown- about another 3+ minutes. Serve straight away. [Note 1]
