Daring Bakers and Two Eels

Tuiles are quite the reasonable way to start out 2009's Daring Baker challenges: crispy, thin, light and most importantly...cheap!

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.

My first attempt at the simple, vanilla version of the tuiles was a good tasting failure. I didn't catch that there was a typo in the recipe, and used half the flour I should have. Bits of visible butter hunks peppered the batter. The tuiles were shapable, but holey.

For the next batch, I fixed the flour in the recipe and melted the butter. Rolled around chopsticks, these tuiles were a far better texture than the first batch. Buttermilk pannacotta and cherries were my accompanyment.

There are many fabulous examples of Daring Baker tuiles today, so please check them out. Alas, mine were uninspired--as is this post. Can anyone relate to my 'winter of discontent'? I hope not!

Thank you Karen aka Baking Soda at Bake My Day! (from the Netherlands) and Zorra aka Kochtopf at 1x umrühren bitte (originally Swiss now in Spain) -- for devising a challenge utilizing pantry items.

Vanilla Tuile Recipe

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

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

• ¼ cup softened butter (not melted but soft [mine worked best when melted])
• ½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
• 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
• Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 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 a silpat, parchment paper or greased 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 offset spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. 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 tuiles in a preheated oven (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 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.

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. Batter can also be spread with a small offset spatula. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a chopsticks, custard cups, etc.