Preheat oven to 400°. 

In a medium saucepan combine the water, butter, salt, nutmeg, and cyanine.

Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the butter is melted. 

Remove from heat, add flour, and stir to combine. 

Place the pan back over the heat and cook, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and starts to form a ball.

Continue to cook until a film forms on the bottom of the pan and the dough is no longer sticky, about 2 minutes more. You are making sure the flour is cooking through.

Take off the heat. Let cool slightly for about 2 minutes. 

One at a time beat in the whole eggs using a wooden spoon. It may seem like they won’t blend, but if you put just a little muscle into it, the egg will incorporate. Make sure you have beaten each egg in thoroughly before adding the next egg. You may use a mixer, but it doesn’t take that much time to do this by hand. 

Add in the grated Compté and the black pepper. Beat the dough with the wooden spoon until all of the cheese has been fully incorporated. 

Scrape the batter into a piping bag fitted with a ½” round tip (you could use a plastic bag with a ½” opening cut diagonally from 1 corner).

Pipe 1” rounds about 1 ½ -2” apart onto 2 Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets. 

Whisk egg yolk and 1 tsp water in a small bowl; brush rounds with egg wash.

Place one piece of Parmesan cheese or sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese over the glaze.  

Bake the gougères until puffed and golden brown and dry in the center (they should sound hollow when tapped), 20–25 minutes.