Allumettes au fromage (puff pastry cheese pockets with mornay)
French cuisine · French Cooking Academy · ♥ 1.8K likes · 40.5K views · 13 min video
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Read about cheese in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 20 g flour
- 200 ml milk
- 40 g grated cheese
- 1 rectangle store-bought pre-rolled pure butter puff pastry
- 1 whole egg yolk
Cut a rectangle of puff pastry into six small rectangles about 6 cm wide and 12 cm long (three pockets, a bottom and a top each); keep cold in the fridge.
Cutting the puff pastry
- butter
Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add all the flour, mix, reduce the heat and cook for three minutes without stirring.
Add half the cold milk to the hot roux to make a base mixture, then the other half; raise to medium heat and stir until thick.
Hot roux, cold milk
Switch to a spoon and melt the grated cheese in bit by bit over medium heat until smooth with no clumps.
Melting the cheese in with a spoon
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- nutmeg
- pepper
Off the heat, stir in the egg yolk with the spoon. Taste, then season with a pinch of salt, cayenne, a grating of nutmeg and pepper.
Transfer to a clean bowl (optionally pass through a sieve), cool until it firms a little, then fill a piping bag with a straight nozzle.
Cooling the sauce in a piping bag
- water
- 1–2 strips strips of cheese
With a wet finger, paint a border of water around each bottom rectangle; pipe a little sauce in the middle and lay one or two strips of cheese on it.
Lay the top rectangle over, then chill for a good 10 minutes so the pastry firms.
Trim each edge straight with a blade through both layers to seal.
- 1 whole egg yolk
- water
Cut a little chimney in the top with a knife for steam, and brush with egg wash (an egg yolk with a little water) or milk.
Steam chimney and egg wash
Preheat the oven to 230 C; reduce to 200 C (about 400 F) as the pockets go in, middle rack, and bake 25 minutes.