Gougères

½ cup water 4 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt, divided ½ teaspoon granulated sugar ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour 2 large eggs, plus 2 more if necessary 1 cup finely shredded Gruyère cheese, divided ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ teaspoon cayenne ¼ teaspoon paprika

Nutritional information per gougère: Calories 13 (61% from fat) • carb. 1g • pro. 0g • fat 1g • sat. fat 0g • chol. 9mg • sod. 17mg • calc. 7mg • fiber 0g

Preheat oven to 500°F. Put the water, butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, and sugar into a small or medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in all of the flour. Return to the burner and raise the heat to medium-high. Using a wooden spoon, continuously stir the mixture until it dries out. You will know it is done when the dough leaves a thick hard film on the bottom of the pot. It is better to overcook at this stage, than not enough. Remove from heat and put mixture into the bowl of a Cuisinart® Stand Mixer, fitted with the mixing paddle. Mix on a low speed to release steam and cool. Once the dough has cooled, after about 2 to 3 minutes, start adding the eggs, one at a time, mixing each until fully incorporated before adding the next. The dough is ready when it becomes a pale yellow color and is thickened. Typically, gougères batter should drop from the paddle in a slow and steady stream, but for use in the cookie press, the desired consistency is between a thick cake batter and a soft cookie dough. If the dough is too thick, beat the remaining two eggs together and, with the mixer running slowly, begin to add them, little by little until the batter is correct. Be sure not to make the dough too runny or it will not hold its shape. Once the dough has achieved the correct consistency, add the remaining ingredients. Mix on low to combine. Fit the Cuisinart® Electric Cookie Press with the pastry tip assembly, using the basic round tip (#1). Please see instructions below for best results.* . Load the batter to the MAX fill line. Pipe the batter out into 1-inch rounds onto a parchment paper-lined baking pan, about 1 inch apart. To achieve the best results, instead of holding the On/Off button down, pulse and let the batter slowly come out of the press. Place the pan of piped gougères in the preheated oven. Turn the oven off and let sit in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Turn the oven back on and set to 300°F. Let bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the gougères are hollow, nicely browned, and not wet inside. To ensure even color, turn baking sheets halfway through baking. Serve immediately. * The consistency of what you are to pipe is very important. In most cases, frostings will have to be thicker than normal in order to achieve best results. If the frosting, especially for decorating, is too thin, it will not hold its shape. You will notice that most frostings, decorating or not, will need to be thicker than normal, such as Royal Icing. We recommend practicing what you are to pipe before you go to the final product. There is a learning curve to getting it just right. Whether you are filling pâte à choux or piping a decoration on a cake, it is advised to pulse the On/Off button as opposed to holding it down continuously. This allows for more control on the amount of filling or frosting that will be used at one time. When piping on a cookie or a cake, for decorating, quickly pulse once and then gauge your work from there. It is better to go under in time than over. There will always be more frosting/filling than expected pressed out of the tip, so go slowly. As when using a traditional pastry bag for decorating, you want to guide the frosting as if it were a ribbon, as opposed to forcing it in place. When filling, be it cream puffs or deviled eggs, pipe desired amount and then pause between each, making sure all of the filling is removed from the tip before moving on to the next one.