Daring Bakers January: Tuiles!
After missing last month’s challenge, I wanted to make sure I had time to do this month’s. And then… I found out I needed a root canal.
No, I’m not joking.
Fortunately for me, I wasn’t in the stage where the tooth is in such pain that you can’t function. We caught this pretty early, and while I had a few days where chewing was difficult, waiting for the root canal, and the root canal itself, wasn’t too bad.
However, running to and from dentists appointments and keeping things running at my business meant I didn’t have a lot of time for kitchen experiments. Fortunately for me, this month’s challenge was something easy to put together in a single afternoon – French Tuiles. We were asked to pair them with something light, and that immediately had me craving light, lemony desserts. I took one look at the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment I got as a Christmas Gift and knew what I had to do. Sure, citrus sorbet might be better matched to July’s hot weather, but I can pretend, can’t I? Besides, the coldness of the sorbet was good for my poor gums and sore tooth.
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.
The inspiration for my sorbet came from Elise at Simply Recipes. Her recipe for Meyer Lemon Sorbet sounded so lovely that I had to give it a shot. Unfortunately, we don’t have Meyer lemons up here in the great white north, so I had to modify the recipe a bit to suit. I added in some orange juice and zest to cut the tartness of the regular lemons I used. Even then, it was pretty intense, if still delicious. I agree with her recommendation to only eat this in small amounts.
Tuiles (from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink)
Instructions are for butterflies, but that’s just an example. You can do whatever shape you like!
65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice (optional)
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet (or use a silpat)
Oven: 180C / 350F
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.
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 your silpat or grease with either butter/spray 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 baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. If decorating with colors/cocoa, mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.
Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped while still warm! You can use a rolling pin, broom handle, wooden spoon, cup (etc!) to bend them into your desired shape.
Citrus Sorbet (modified lightly from a recipe by Elise of Simply Recipes)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 small orange)
2 teaspoons fine lemon zest
1 teaspoon fine orange zest
In a small saucepan on medium high heat, make a simple syrup by heating sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix in the citrus juices and zest. Chill, either in the refrigerator, or by placing in a metal bowl over an ice bath.
Once the mixture has thoroughly chilled, you may wish to strain the mixture to remove the bits of citrus zest and any pulp that has landed in your batter. I like having the zest in the final product, but some people don’t. Either way, at this point you want to freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can pour the mixture into a shallow pan and freeze in your freezer until semi-solid. Then take a fork and fluff it up, returning it the the freezer to freeze firm. Then put in a food-processor or blender to process until smooth.
Place sorbet in an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.
Don’t forget to pop over to the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see what others have done!