These are gougeres built on butter rather than on cheese. Bordier's Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter goes into the choux paste itself, so the flavor is baked into the shell instead of stirred in at the end. They come out of the oven in twelve minutes, get a poppy seed crust, and are filled with whipped cream sharpened with Espelette chilli and chopped wild garlic. Serve them warm with a drink in hand.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: About 25 minutes
- Cook: About 12 minutes at 170C, 325F
- Key ingredient: 50 g Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter
Why this works
Choux paste is one of the few doughs where butter is a structural ingredient rather than a flavoring. It goes into the pan with the water at the very start, so whatever character it carries ends up dispersed through every puff. That makes it a good vehicle for Bordier's Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter, made since 2021 from a semi-salted base with wild garlic and IGP Kampot pepper. The wild garlic is mild enough to survive a hot oven, and the Kampot pepper is floral rather than sharp, so it reads as warmth in the finished shell.
The filling then repeats the theme from the cold side. Whipped cream loosely seasoned with Espelette chilli and more chopped wild garlic gives you the same flavors uncooked, against a crisp shell. Bordier butter is churned by hand on a wooden malaxeur in Brittany, and its lower, softer working temperature means it melts into the water quickly and evenly instead of sitting in lumps while the pan comes to a boil.
Ingredients
Serves 4. The choux, the egg wash and the filling are all listed together.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Whole eggs | 2 | 2 |
| Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter | 50 g | 1.8 oz, about 3 1/2 tbsp |
| Flour | 70 g | 2.5 oz, about 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp |
| Egg yolk, for the wash | 1 | 1 |
| Water | 125 g | About 1/2 cup |
| Poppy seeds | A few | A few |
| Heavy cream | 200 g | 7 oz, about 3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp |
| Espelette chilli | 1 pinch | 1 pinch |
| Wild garlic, chopped | 2 tablespoons | 2 tbsp |
Method
Step 1: Make the choux paste
Warm the water and the Bordier Wild Garlic Butter together in a saucepan. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Take the pan off the heat, then stir to bring the temperature down faster. Once it has cooled, add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth batter. See our first tip below on where the flour belongs, since Bordier's text leaves it out of this step.
Step 2: Pipe and bake
Transfer the batter to a piping bag with a plain tip. Pipe it onto a baking sheet. Brush with the beaten egg and scatter over the poppy seeds. Bake at 170C, 325F, gas mark 3 for around 12 minutes.
Step 3: Whip the filling and fill
Whip the cream. Add the Espelette chilli and the wild garlic and whisk them through. Load it into a piping bag with a plain tip, make a hole in each choux, and fill.
Tips from our kitchen
- Bordier's method omits the flour. The ingredient list calls for 70 g of flour but step one never says when to add it. Standard choux technique, and what we do in our kitchen, is to tip the flour in all at once the moment the water and butter reach a boil, off the heat, then beat until the paste pulls away from the pan and dry it over low heat for a minute before cooling and adding the eggs. That placement is our guidance, not Bordier's instruction.
- Salt is in the method but not the list. Step one says to season the water. Bordier gives no quantity, and the butter is already semi-salted, so a small pinch is enough.
- Cool the paste before the eggs go in. The instruction to stir the pan to cool it faster matters. Add eggs to a hot panade and they scramble. It should feel warm on the back of your hand, not hot.
- Add the eggs one at a time and judge by texture. Egg sizes vary. Stop when the batter falls from the spoon in a slow ribbon and holds a soft peak. Too loose and the puffs spread flat on the sheet.
- Do not open the oven. Twelve minutes at 170C is a short bake for choux, so the shells set late. Opening the door drops the temperature and they collapse. If they look pale at twelve minutes, give them a few more rather than cranking the heat.
- Fill them cold, serve them soon. Whipped cream in a warm shell weeps within the hour. Cool the gougeres completely, fill just before serving, and keep the filled ones in the refrigerator no more than about thirty minutes.
How to serve it
These belong on a board with a glass of something dry and cold, a Chablis or a Breton cider, before people sit down. Pipe them small, no bigger than a walnut, so each one is a single bite and the cream does not overwhelm the shell. If you want to see what else this butter and the rest of the flavored range can carry, our Bordier butter guide walks through all of them.
Where to buy Bordier Wild Garlic and Kampot Pepper Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Wild Garlic & Kampot Pepper Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): semi-salted butter with wild garlic and floral IGP Kampot pepper, strong enough to flavor a baked dough.
For the rest of the flavors, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
50 g goes into the choux paste. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz, or 125 g, so one block makes this batch twice with a little left.
Where does the flour go?
Bordier's step one lists the flour in the ingredients but never says when to add it. We add it off the heat as soon as the water and butter boil, beating it into a paste before the eggs. That is our reading of the recipe rather than Bordier's stated method.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
The Espelette Pepper butter is a natural swap here given that Espelette already appears in the filling. Roscoff Onion also works. The plain Salted butter gives you a neutral gougere shell that leans entirely on the cream for flavor.
How should I store the butter?
In the refrigerator, wrapped or in a sealed container, away from anything strongly aromatic.
Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Refrigerate it as soon as it arrives.
Can I bake the shells in advance?
Unfilled choux keep well for a day in an airtight tin and can be crisped for two or three minutes in a warm oven before filling. Filled ones do not hold.
Related reading
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche
- Paysan Breton: The Breton Butter Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.