Make-ahead Gougères
November 24, 2019 3:16 PM Subscribe
Help me strategize my Gougères. I'm planning to bring them to a Thanksgiving dinner this week and I can't decide whether I should freeze the balls or pre-bake, cool, then freeze or some third option?
My goal is to not take up a huge amount of time in the oven at the feast location. Initially, I thought I could pre-bake, freeze, and then warm through and that would be "faster" and maybe more foolproof because I could better control the cooling, etc.. But, I don't want them to taste blah if they would be better to bring as frozen balls and bake on-site. Or I could bake them in the morning, cool them and just warm them up whenever we are ready for eating gougeres! What would you do, fancy chefs of mefi, to balance deliciousness with on-site obtrusiveness?
My goal is to not take up a huge amount of time in the oven at the feast location. Initially, I thought I could pre-bake, freeze, and then warm through and that would be "faster" and maybe more foolproof because I could better control the cooling, etc.. But, I don't want them to taste blah if they would be better to bring as frozen balls and bake on-site. Or I could bake them in the morning, cool them and just warm them up whenever we are ready for eating gougeres! What would you do, fancy chefs of mefi, to balance deliciousness with on-site obtrusiveness?
The ones I've made (these, but without a food processor) may differ from yours... but those were:
- Great baked right away and eaten while still warm.
- Not nearly as great eaten cool (the same day).
- Also not nearly as great even when reheated (the same day). (Why yes, I did eat rather a lot of gougeres that day, now that you mention it.)
- Just as great as the first ones when I baked some I'd previously frozen (after forming and before baking).
So, I vote bake from frozen on site and eat them warm.
Also, now I need to make some more gougeres.
posted by daisyace at 6:12 PM on November 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
- Great baked right away and eaten while still warm.
- Not nearly as great eaten cool (the same day).
- Also not nearly as great even when reheated (the same day). (Why yes, I did eat rather a lot of gougeres that day, now that you mention it.)
- Just as great as the first ones when I baked some I'd previously frozen (after forming and before baking).
So, I vote bake from frozen on site and eat them warm.
Also, now I need to make some more gougeres.
posted by daisyace at 6:12 PM on November 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is so weird, I am literally making gougeres right now! I agree with daisyace – baked fresh or from frozen tastes way better than reheating them later. You can also refrigerate the dough for up to three days and pipe/spoon them out on the morning.
posted by drunkonthemoon at 9:12 AM on November 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by drunkonthemoon at 9:12 AM on November 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm doing bake/freeze/reheat and they're still really delicious. The recipe I have takes about 30 minutes to bake and with my crew there's no way the oven door stays closed for that long. Plus, additional batches (gotta serve em warm) are that much easier.
posted by lowest east side at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lowest east side at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
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