Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
Chestnut and Irish Whiskey Gougere
Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
50 minutes
25 minutes
3 hours 15 minutes
Serves:
About 40 canape gougeres
Marion created this dish for Great British Menu Series 21. The flavour architecture of chestnut, Irish whiskey and blue cheese carried in a cheese choux drew warm words on the pass and is preserved here exactly as served. This is a Fix-It version: the chestnut filling is hydrated, passed twice, shar...
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Ingredients
FOR THE CHESTNUT AND IRISH WHISKEY CREMEUX: 150 g whole milk, warm 100 g double cream, warm 200 g cooked chestnuts, vacuum-packed (not sweetened puree) 40 g unsalted butter, soft 35 g Irish whiskey 5 g cider vinegar 3 g fine sea salt 100 g double cream, cold, for folding
FOR THE CHEESE CHOUX SHELLS: 125 g whole milk 125 g water 110 g unsalted butter, diced 5 g fine sea salt 4 g caster sugar 150 g plain flour, sifted 250 g whole eggs, beaten (about 5 medium) 70 g aged hard cheese, finely grated (Gruyere, Comte or a mature Irish hard cheese) 1 g ground white pepper A scant pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 25 g extra grated hard cheese, for the tops
FOR THE BLUE CHEESE CREAM: 80 g Northern Irish raw-milk blue cheese (Young Buck or Kearney Blue; any firm blue works) 60 g full-fat cream cheese 30 g double cream, to loosen
TO FINISH: 1 cooked chestnut, kept whole, for grating A few flakes of fine sea salt
EQUIPMENT: High-speed blender Two fine drum sieves, the second finer than the first Stand mixer with paddle Digital scales Piping bags with 10 mm plain, 5 mm and 4 mm nozzles Lined baking trays Skewer
Method
STEP 1: MAKE THE CHESTNUT CREMEUX
Warm the milk and cream to just below a simmer. Blitz the cooked chestnuts with the hot liquid until completely smooth, giving it longer than feels necessary - two to three minutes in a high-speed blender. Add the soft butter and blitz again to emulsify.
STEP 2: PASS IT TWICE
Push the puree through a fine drum sieve, then through a second, finer one. What stays behind is the gritty starch that coats the palate, so do not skip the second pass.
STEP 3: SEASON AND ADD THE WHISKEY
Off the heat, stir in the Irish whiskey, the cider vinegar and the 3 g of salt. Taste now rather than later: it should read savoury and slightly sharp, and chestnut swallows salt, so trust the weight rather than the first impression. Chill until cold, at least two hours.
STEP 4: MAKE THE CHOUX PASTE
Bring the milk, water, butter, 5 g salt and caster sugar to a rolling boil. Off the heat, beat in all the flour at once. Return to a medium heat and dry the paste out for two to three minutes, working it against the pan until a film forms on the base.
STEP 5: BRING IN THE EGGS
Transfer to a mixer and beat on low for a minute to cool. Add the beaten egg in five or six additions, waiting for each to be absorbed. Stop when the paste falls from the paddle in a slow, glossy V - you may not need all the egg. Beat in the 70 g of grated hard cheese, the white pepper and the nutmeg.
STEP 6: PIPE SMALL
Fit a 10 mm plain nozzle. Pipe 15 mm domes, about 6 g each, well spaced on lined trays. Flatten the peaks with a wet fingertip and scatter the extra 25 g of grated cheese over. Resist making them bigger: a gougere roughly doubles in the oven, and one mouthful is the target.
STEP 7: BAKE
Bake at 200 C fan for 12 minutes, then drop to 170 C fan for a further 10 to 12 minutes, until deep gold and light in the hand. Do not open the oven in the first ten minutes. Pierce each base with a skewer as they come out and return them to the switched-off oven for five minutes to dry the interior.
STEP 8: MAKE THE BLUE CHEESE CREAM
Blitz the blue cheese with the cream cheese until smooth, loosening with the 30 g of double cream. Pass through a fine sieve and load into a piping bag fitted with a 4 mm nozzle. Keep cold.
STEP 9: LIGHTEN THE CHESTNUT
Whip the remaining 100 g of double cream to a soft peak. Fold a third into the cold chestnut base to slacken it, then fold in the rest in two additions. Handle it lightly - the aeration is doing structural work here. Load into a piping bag fitted with a 5 mm nozzle.
STEP 10: TEMPER BEFORE FILLING
Let the chestnut cremeux stand at room temperature for fifteen to twenty minutes, to around 15 C. Fridge-cold filling reads dense and pasty however well it has been made.
STEP 11: FILL AND FINISH
Pierce each gougere underneath and pipe in about 8 g of chestnut cremeux, until it just resists. Add a 2 g dot of blue cheese cream into the same cavity. Grate a little chestnut over the top and add a few flakes of sea salt.
STEP 12: SERVE WITHIN THE HOUR
Filled gougeres soften, so fill only once the tray is going out. The shells can be baked a day ahead and refreshed for three minutes at 160 C, and both creams keep for two days.
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Instructions
FOR THE CHESTNUT AND IRISH WHISKEY CREMEUX:
150 g whole milk, warm
100 g double cream, warm
200 g cooked chestnuts, vacuum-packed (not sweetened puree)
40 g unsalted butter, soft
35 g Irish whiskey
5 g cider vinegar
3 g fine sea salt
100 g double cream, cold, for folding
FOR THE CHEESE CHOUX SHELLS:
125 g whole milk
125 g water
110 g unsalted butter, diced
5 g fine sea salt
4 g caster sugar
150 g plain flour, sifted
250 g whole eggs, beaten (about 5 medium)
70 g aged hard cheese, finely grated (Gruyere, Comte or a mature Irish hard cheese)
1 g ground white pepper
A scant pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
25 g extra grated hard cheese, for the tops
FOR THE BLUE CHEESE CREAM:
80 g Northern Irish raw-milk blue cheese (Young Buck or Kearney Blue; any firm blue works)
60 g full-fat cream cheese
30 g double cream, to loosen
TO FINISH:
1 cooked chestnut, kept whole, for grating
A few flakes of fine sea salt
EQUIPMENT:
High-speed blender
Two fine drum sieves, the second finer than the first
Stand mixer with paddle
Digital scales
Piping bags with 10 mm plain, 5 mm and 4 mm nozzles
Lined baking trays
Skewer
Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: MAKE THE CHESTNUT CREMEUX
Warm the milk and cream to just below a simmer. Blitz the cooked chestnuts with the hot liquid until completely smooth, giving it longer than feels necessary - two to three minutes in a high-speed blender. Add the soft butter and blitz again to emulsify.
STEP 2: PASS IT TWICE
Push the puree through a fine drum sieve, then through a second, finer one. What stays behind is the gritty starch that coats the palate, so do not skip the second pass.
STEP 3: SEASON AND ADD THE WHISKEY
Off the heat, stir in the Irish whiskey, the cider vinegar and the 3 g of salt. Taste now rather than later: it should read savoury and slightly sharp, and chestnut swallows salt, so trust the weight rather than the first impression. Chill until cold, at least two hours.
STEP 4: MAKE THE CHOUX PASTE
Bring the milk, water, butter, 5 g salt and caster sugar to a rolling boil. Off the heat, beat in all the flour at once. Return to a medium heat and dry the paste out for two to three minutes, working it against the pan until a film forms on the base.
STEP 5: BRING IN THE EGGS
Transfer to a mixer and beat on low for a minute to cool. Add the beaten egg in five or six additions, waiting for each to be absorbed. Stop when the paste falls from the paddle in a slow, glossy V - you may not need all the egg. Beat in the 70 g of grated hard cheese, the white pepper and the nutmeg.
STEP 6: PIPE SMALL
Fit a 10 mm plain nozzle. Pipe 15 mm domes, about 6 g each, well spaced on lined trays. Flatten the peaks with a wet fingertip and scatter the extra 25 g of grated cheese over. Resist making them bigger: a gougere roughly doubles in the oven, and one mouthful is the target.
STEP 7: BAKE
Bake at 200 C fan for 12 minutes, then drop to 170 C fan for a further 10 to 12 minutes, until deep gold and light in the hand. Do not open the oven in the first ten minutes. Pierce each base with a skewer as they come out and return them to the switched-off oven for five minutes to dry the interior.
STEP 8: MAKE THE BLUE CHEESE CREAM
Blitz the blue cheese with the cream cheese until smooth, loosening with the 30 g of double cream. Pass through a fine sieve and load into a piping bag fitted with a 4 mm nozzle. Keep cold.
STEP 9: LIGHTEN THE CHESTNUT
Whip the remaining 100 g of double cream to a soft peak. Fold a third into the cold chestnut base to slacken it, then fold in the rest in two additions. Handle it lightly - the aeration is doing structural work here. Load into a piping bag fitted with a 5 mm nozzle.
STEP 10: TEMPER BEFORE FILLING
Let the chestnut cremeux stand at room temperature for fifteen to twenty minutes, to around 15 C. Fridge-cold filling reads dense and pasty however well it has been made.
STEP 11: FILL AND FINISH
Pierce each gougere underneath and pipe in about 8 g of chestnut cremeux, until it just resists. Add a 2 g dot of blue cheese cream into the same cavity. Grate a little chestnut over the top and add a few flakes of sea salt.
STEP 12: SERVE WITHIN THE HOUR
Filled gougeres soften, so fill only once the tray is going out. The shells can be baked a day ahead and refreshed for three minutes at 160 C, and both creams keep for two days.
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