Cheese puffs are a cross between a scone and a Yorkshire pudding.
Light, tender and very cheesy, they are a delight.
After a tramp to Leaning Lodge in the Rock and Pillar Conservation Park, we all trooped into the Kissing Gate Café at Middlemarch and this is where I first tasted cheese puffs. The staff very kindly gave me the recipe. I have lightened the original a little but I don't think the flavour has been diminished in any way.
Cheese puffs freeze well, they are light and lovely and everyone asks for more.
Sometimes I make tiny puffs.
These are perfect to serve with a drink before dinner. Split, spread with a little sour cream and a sprinkling of finely chopped chives or a sliver of smoked salmon, they are very moreish.
When baking, I think it is worth taking the extra minute to sift the dry ingredients. This ensures that the baking powder and baking soda are completely lump-free and mixed evenly through the flour.
A delicious slice of cake which was served to me recently was totally spoiled when I bit into a lump of baking soda.
Cheese puffs
2 eggs, size 7
¾ cup standard milk
¾ cup plain yoghurt,
260g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
90g Parmesan cheese, grated
Lightly spray with oil or brush with melted butter 12 large muffin pans (100ml).
Beat eggs, milk and yoghurt together.
Into a large bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cayenne pepper and stir in the cheese, using a fork to mix the cheese through the dry ingredients.
Add the beaten eggs, milk and yoghurt mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir just to blend. Do not overmix or beat. The mixture will be quite moist and lumpy.
Fill the prepared muffin pans about three-quarters full.
Bake at 180degC for about 20 minutes until puffed and golden and remove from the oven.
Stand muffins in tins for 1215 minutes. As the puffs cool the cheese becomes less sticky and they will turn out more easily if not too hot.
Run a knife around the edges of each puff and turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 12 large cheese puffs.
Serve split and buttered if you wish; I prefer mine unbuttered.
If making tiny puffs this mixture fills about 24 tiny muffin tins plus 3 large ones.
- Joan Bishop.
