Basic Baking Series: Tuiles

Tuile Cups~ Thin and crisp, these are basic cookies that can be enjoyed on their own or can easily be molded into serving vessels or formed into fun shapes for garnishment.

The name ‘tuile’ is a French word meaning ’tile’.  Made in its traditional form, the circular shaped cookies are placed over a round object like a rolling pin when they come out of the oven. Once shaped as such and lined up next to one another, they resemble a tiled roof top, hence the name.

Of course there are as many basic recipes as there are ways to flavor this cookie by adding some nuts, extracts and flavorings. I generally keep my mine simple as I like my tuile to accent my main dessert.

These tuile cups will be back in the coming days as a serving piece for another recipe.

Stay tuned.. . .

A few notes:

• The batter will be slightly thick and sticky.
• Work quickly if you are shaping these into cups. To shape tuiles into cups, quickly push each one into a muffin pan hole with the back of a tablespoon.
• Don’t bake more than four and five cookies at a time, as they quickly become crisp when cooled. If they do become too cool to shape, return them to the oven for a minute or two to soften them to pliable consistency.
• Tuile templates can be purchased on Amazon or you can easily make your own by tracing your desired design and using a Xacto knife to cut it out of cardboard.
• You can leave your tuiles plain or dress them up a bit like the picture by mixing in some cocoa powder or even a little food coloring.
• These spread and bake best on silpats. If you don’t have any, make sure to grease the parchment paper well.

Basic Tuile

Makes 12 4inch cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tspn vanilla powder
1 pinch salt
3 egg whites from large eggs, slightly whisked
2 1/2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. melted butter to grease the parchment paper
2 Tbsp. milk
Instructions:
1.Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a small mixing bowl. Add the egg whites and then the melted unsalted butter, and whisk until just combined. Set the batter aside to rest for 30 minutes before using, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
2.Using 1 1/2 Tbsps. per tuile, spoon the batter onto the baking sheets, 5 per sheet. Keep cookies 2 inches apart, to allow for spreading. Dip a finger in the milk and spread cookie batter into a 3-inch round. To ensure even baking, make the edges no thinner than the centers.
3.Bake the tuiles 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers are just beginning to color. Remove from oven and shape to desired form.

Adapted from Epicurious