Freezer Burn Is Not All Bad

I posted about these gougères 'way back around Thanksgiving of 2012 when I made them for my family celebration and froze the extra ones for another day. In my manic emptying of pantry and freezer prior to the start of destruction/construction in the kitchen, I found these and decided I'd better use them up - after all, they were probably well past their use-by date in any case and may even have been a little freezer-burned.

So, I popped them, still frozen, onto a baking sheet and baked them for dinner. Hard to believe, but they actually improved in the freezer. The cheesy taste of the fontina was much more pronounced and they stood up higher and lighter in the oven than my first batch. They also browned better, the tops getting all crisp and crackly while the interiors were like popovers, soft and stretchy.

So, here's the recipe link again but, if you make them, freeze the whole batch first and wait a long time before enjoying them. It makes all the difference.