Comté gougères

Heat the oven to 180 °C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Grate the Comté, reserving 75 g for the dough and 25 g for the tops.

Bring the water, diced butter and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add all the flour and stir vigorously with a spatula. Return to low heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides. Allow about 5 minutes for this heating and drying stage.

Transfer the panade to a bowl and cool for about 5 minutes. Crack eggs into another bowl, beat with a fork and weigh out 200 g beaten whole egg without shell. Gradually work this amount into the panade, stirring vigorously after each addition until smooth. Fold in the Comté reserved for the dough. For the glaze, separate yolks from other eggs, beat lightly and weigh 14 g into a separate bowl.

Use spoons to form about 30 small mounds of dough, each 3 cm across, on the sheet, leaving space to expand. Brush thinly with the beaten yolk weighed for glazing, then sprinkle with the Comté reserved for the tops.

Bake for about 25 minutes at 180 °C, keeping the oven closed while the puffs rise, until puffed and golden. Transfer to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before serving.