Daring Bakers: Tuiles

    I really lost track of time this month.  I was happy to see a light, seemingly easy dessert for the January challenge, and then I just forgot all about it.  I started to notice other Daring Baker's posts popping up and I thought uh-oh!  So hopefully I'm not too late...

     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 had more difficulty with this challenge than I expected, but the issues should be easily corrected the next time I make this recipe.  I spread the batter too thick and this resulted in my pretty shapes turning into indistinguishable puddles in the oven.  They were more difficult to shape immediately out of the oven too.  But a little melted chocolate hides all kinds of problems!  I topped them with fresh blueberries and melted semisweet chocolate drizzled on top.  Delicious!  Since I was short on time, I chose to make only one recipe option, the tuiles from “The Chocolate Book”, by Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.  That is the recipe I will post here.

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch.

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
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Preheat oven to 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 parchment paper 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. 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 when still warm, so you might want to bake a small amount at a time.  Or you can place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable until you can shape them.

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….

This is a fun, easy recipe to make (if you know what you are doing!) and I would like to try it again with some of the fun fillings I've seen other Daring Bakers use.