Little Ivy Cakes

Battling to love Tuiles

  

 I am listening to "April In Paris" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on Pandora. I wish you could hear the song. It's so pretty.

It's not April and I am not in Paris but, tuiles are a lovely french, airy, and crunchy cookie. I have absolutely fallen in love with them but, I hate them! ...it's weird, I know. It's because they are a bit difficult to master and can be tricky if you don"t have all the tools you need to make the process easier.

I spent a day three days trying to figure out and experiment with these things. Whipping up the "tuile paste" is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out your cookie templates, gathering the right tools, and trying to master shaping the cookies how you want them when they come out of the oven because they are delicate, HOT and you gotta do it fast before they cool too much and harden.

Chili Aioli tuile with Gruyere and Cheddar cheese, sprinkled with herbs and sesame seeds)

 I was also frustrated that there weren't enough "sources" out there on how to navigate my way through the process. I needed videos and step by step pictures to help me and see how the templates were created and how to use them etc. In this post I will try my best to make it easier for YOU if you decide to make these-because it is really worth it. THEY ARE ADDICTIVE, DELICIOUS, and you can make so many different flavors and designs.

First watch this video and then come back to me:

How-to video from Martha Stuart on Tuile

Okay, doneNow go here and print Martha's templates ( Circle and Flower) or draw your own shapes on a piece of paper. Set aside. You can also find plastic templates that could work for this at your craft store.

Second
Get your tools together. Invest in a Silpat, if you haven't already. I got one for $20.00. The reason I say this is because you can use it for many things and will get a lot of use out of it for baking, freezing and whatever. It's a nonstick baking mat. Also get an offset spatula if you don't have one already.

 If you are making your own templates...go out and buy a couple plastic school folders that have a see-through qualify to them, and a good exacto knife.

Cut the plastic folder into two flat sheets.

-Then transfer by tracing your shapes from the piece of paper to the plastic sheets.

-Then cut out your shapes from the plastic with an exacto knife and punch and toss the actual shape you cute out. What you want is the plastic sheet with a the shaped holes.

-Wash your templates with hot soapy water, dry them and set them flat on your silpat.

 -Taking your offset spatula spread your tuile paste in the hole as even as your can right up to the edges. make any designs you want before you lift the template.

 -Then lift your template sheet and you will have your perfectly shaped tuile paste ready to be baked.

I made up a main batch and then split them to make different flavors. I added a table spoon or so of whatever kind of flavoring.  For example add a tbs cocoa powder, grated ginger or ground dry ginger, chili aioli/mayo. For the savory ones, I cut the sugar in the recipe in half.

  

I also suggest you puree the flavor or herb with your sugar or use liquid flavor. You do not want large bits of things in your paste because it will make it difficult to spread evenly in the template. It is pretty to have sprinkled things on top of the cookies just wait to sprinkle stuff on top until after is is spread on the silpat with your template and ready to bake.

Vanilla bean and lime paste

Ginger and lime, and chocolate paste

Lime and herb, and chili aioli and herb paste

 BasicTuile Recipe
3.5 Tbs butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon or lime zest
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup flour
-Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and zest
-Add the flour and mix.
-Add eggs whites and mix well.
-Transfer paste in a smaller bowl or container and store in fridge until  ready to use. You can store the paste in your freezer for up to a week.
-Bake at 325 or 350 degrees for 7 minutes or so.
-Take out of the oven and shape them right away.
-Store the bakes cookies in an airtight container for a week to two weeks.

(Lime and Vanilla bean with Chocolate stripes poppy seeds sprinkled on the one in the back)

I'll leave you with a photo of buddy being a good boy in the bathtub.

THE END!