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1
Measure all the ingredients before you start.
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2
Combine the butter, salt and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
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3
Remove from heat, add the flour all at once, and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until well blended.
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4
Return the pan to medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
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5
Let cool for 3 minutes.
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6
Add the eggs one by one, stirring well between each addition, until incorporated.
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7
(What you have just made is a pate a choux).
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8
Sprinkle with cumin and pepper and fold in the cheese.
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9
The batter will be thick.
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10
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to a day.
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11
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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12
Remove the batter from the fridge, and use two teaspoons to shape small balls of batter (about 1 inch in diameter) that you will plop onto the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between each.
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13
If you have to work in batches, cover the batter and return it to the fridge.
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14
Bake for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden- however much you want to peek inside, do not open the oven door during the first 10 minutes of baking, or the puffs will not rise well.
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15
Turn off the oven, open the oven door just a crack, and leave the puffs in for another 5 minutes.
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16
(This helps prevent an abrupt temperature change, which could cause the puffs to deflate, and nobody wants that).
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17
Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes and serve warm, or let cool and serve and serve at room temperature.
