Cheese Puffs
(Petits Choux au Fromage)
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1 cup water
3 ounces (6 Tb or 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

Bring water to a boil with the butter and seasonings in a 1 ½-quart (approximate), heavy-bottomed saucepan.

1 cup sifted all-purpose, unbleached flour at room temperature

Remove pan from heat and immediately pour in all of the flour at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for several seconds to blend thoroughly.

Then beat over moderately high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and the spoon, forms a mass, and begins to film the bottom of the pan.

4 eggs at room temperature (US graded “large”)

Remove saucepan from heat and make a well in the center of the paste with your spoon. Immediately break an egg into the center of the well. Beat the egg into the paste until it’s well absorbed. Continue with the rest of the eggs, beating them in one by one. The third and fourth eggs will be absorbed more slowly. Beat for a moment more to be sure all is well blended and smooth.

1 cup freshly grated Swiss, Emmental, or Gruyere cheese, or ½ cup of one of these mixed with ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan 

Beat the cheese into the warm pate a choux. Using either a pastry bag or a spoon, drop the paste onto a cookie sheet, spacing the mounds about 2 inches apart. If you use a spoon, moisten your fingers with water and shape the mounds.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm and crusty to the touch (time can vary slightly depending on puff size). Remove from the oven and pierce each puff with a sharp knife to prevent sogginess. Then set in the turned-off oven for ten minutes.

The number made depends on the size of the puffs; it can range from 24 to 40.