Welsh Rarebit Gougères

Hello! It’s been a while.

I feel as if I am putting on my favourite, hole-ridden, woolly jumper and settling back into this space. 
I missed this place and I am glad that I'm here. It’s nice to feel glad about things...

Another thing to feel glad about is the combination of stout beer, Gruyere and mustard. Have you ever had Welsh Rarebit? It’s perfect comfort food – and it’s also essentially cheese on toast. Which is fine  - and to be perfectly frank, a necessity in life sometimes.

And while cheese on toast is welcome in almost any situation - let's fancy things up a little. Gougères are savoury choux-pastry bites filled with cheese and herbs. Using stout in place of water and adding mustard powder gives the Welsh Rarebit angle. I think these would be fantastic as hors d'oeuvres for some sort of winter solstice party. 

Ah, it's a little late for that...sorry.

Knowing what I know about these little beauties, you might feel a tiny bit resentful if you have to share these with guests. They keep in a container for a week or so and you can just quickly heat them up in the oven to bring them back to life. Make them for a party, make them whenever - just make them. 

Welsh Rarebit Gougères 
125ml milk - full fat
125ml beer - I used stout but any beer that you love will be awesome. 
100g cubed butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon mustard powder
170g plain flour
75g mature hard or semi-hard cheese, grated - I used a mixture of gruyere and aged cheddar
2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C and line several baking trays with baking paper.
Pour the milk and beer into a large saucepan and add the butter, salt, sugar and mustard powder. Put the pan over a high heat until the butter melts. Turn the heat down to low and add all the flour. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is the consistency of lumpy mashed potato. Add the cheese and chives and continue to beat until you have a smooth paste that does not stick to the sides of the pan. 

Take the pan off the heat and continue to beat until the mix has cooled enough to touch. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in before adding the next. The pastry will go lumpy when you add the eggs, but consistent beating will smooth it out. Once smooth, spoon the pastry into a piping bag with a 5mm nozzle and pipe the pastry into walnut sized balls, taking care to flick the nozzle up to release. Pipe the gougères 2 cm apart on the tray. To prevent burning on any that have points, dip your finger in some water and gently pat them down. 
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Best eaten immediately but will keep in an airtight container for a few days. To warm and crisp up, bake in at 150C for around 5 minutes.