Daring Bakers - Tuile

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I chose to make my tuile into little cups to serve my homemade gelato (We were supposed to serve it with something light & I figured since my gelato has no egg in it, its lighter than normal). Since the gelato is vanilla I flavored the whole tuile dough with dark chocolate cocoa. I didn't really have anything to use as a stencil to shape the tuile circles before baking so I winged it & cut a 6" circle out of the piece of card stock.

I wasn't exactly sure how thick to spread out the dough but from what I've seen it should be pretty thin. I don't have an offset spatula so this was a little tricky with a kitchen knife. The second question was how long to cook them, the recipe says until the edges are golden brown but I couldn't really tell that with the chocolate dough. I guessed they were cooked when the dough looked set. I had a little bit of a tricky time with the shaping & they did crack in a few spots but not badly at all. Everything crisped up nicely except the bottoms of the cups. I think the center of my circles may have been a little thicker than the rest.

I also made some curls around a pen which we ate right away. The chocolate flavor was so good.

My only disappointment with these was how quickly they went soft. I made them after lunch, let them cool & put them in an airtight container. By dessert they were all ready chewy instead of crisp though they did retain their shape & the flavor was still great.

Following is the recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck, I have adapted it but cutting the recipe in half & making the whole thing chocolate flavored.

Tuile

Yields: I got 2 6" circles & 3 curls with my half batch

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

2 T softened butter (not melted but soft)
1/4 c sifted confectioner’s sugar
a dash of vanilla extract
1 large egg white (slightly whisked with a fork)
1/4 c sifted all purpose flour
1/2 table spoon cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
Few drops of water

Preheat oven to 350 F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Mix in the cocoa & a few drops of water.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes.

Bake shapes in preheated oven for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown (mine took about 7 minutes). Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….