This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was Tuile Cookies. The hosts this month were Karen aka Baking Soda at Bake My Day (from the Netherlands) and Zorra aka Kochtopf at 1x umruhren bitte (orginally Swiss, now in Spain). In addition to making the cookies, you were required to come up with a "light" accompaniment. I chose to go with the standard tuile flavor that was given to us. The cookies had an excellent flavor, like a really good fortune cookie. The only problem I had with mine was in shaping. They were too hot to handle, but in order to shape them I had to do it when they were RIGHT out of the oven. Any advice on this? I paired the cookies with a berry sorbet that was based on this recipe from Epicurious. Here's my version:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups frozen berries (I used 1 1/2 cups blueberries and 1 1/2 cups raspberries), thawed
1/8 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, about 3 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
2. In a blender, puree the thawed berries with the syrup and the lime juice until very smooth. If desired, strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother texture (I didn't, but it probably would have been a good idea).
3. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. I didn't chill it any more than 30 minutes (because I'm impatient). Also, since I used thawed frozen berries, they were still very cold.
4. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
The sorbet was awesome! It went really well with the tuile cookies, because the sorbet was tart and the cookies very sweet -- they complimented each other.
Following is a recipe taken from a book called "The Chocolate Book", written by female Dutch Master chef, Angelique Schmeinck:
Recipe for tuiles:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example, I used circles)
Preparation time for batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch
65 grams/ 1/4 cup/ 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted, but soft)
60 grams/ 1/2 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 tablespoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of your choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet
Oven 180C/350F
Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) 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 a butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an offset spatula to spread batter. Leave some room 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, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm again. (Haven't tried that). Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.
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, etc.
