Ingredients

• 65g/2¼oz unsalted butter
• chopped
• 100g/3½oz strong flour
• pinch salt
• 3 free-range eggs
• beaten
• 75g/2¾oz gruyère
• grated
• 30g/1oz full-fat cream cheese
• softened
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp soured cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• pinch cayenne pepper
• ½ lemon
• zest only
• 200g/7oz crabmeat
• half brown and half white
• handful watercress
• 3 slices smoked salmon
• cut into 15 strips
• 15 cooked large king prawns
• peeled
• ½ red pepper
• finely chopped
• 2 tsp capers
• chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• lemon wedges
• to serve

Directions

• For the pastry
• put 160ml/5½fl oz cold water and the butter in a saucepan and gently bring to a boil.
• Remove from the heat and add the flour and salt. Stir vigorously and then put on a low heat and mix until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• Beat in the eggs a little at a time
• incorporating each addition thoroughly. Only add enough egg to make the pastry a soft
• pipeable consistency (you may not need all the eggs). Fold in the cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Put the dough in a piping bag fitted with a 16mm plain nozzle and pipe 15 x 8cm/3¼in fingers on to the prepared tray. Bake for about 25 minutes
• reducing the oven temperature to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 after 10 minutes. When crisp and golden-brown
• turn off the oven
• open the door and leave the gougères in the oven to dry out and cool.
• Meanwhile
• for the filling
• stir together the cream cheese
• mayonnaise
• soured cream
• mustard
• cayenne pepper and lemon zest with the brown crabmeat. Fold in the white crabmeat
• and season
• to taste
• with salt and pepper.
• To assemble
• cut the tops off the gougères
• so they look like canoes. Put a few leaves of watercress in the base and spoon the crab mixture on top. Place a curled strip of smoked salmon and a prawn on top.
• Sprinkle over the finely chopped red pepper
• capers and a few small watercress leaves decoratively.