Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tuiles



I seem to be waiting until the last minute with everything this month!  Though I think my TWD gingerbread is as last minute as it gets... =)  I deliberately waited until this week to make this month's Daring Bakers challenge, though.  I knew I'd be on vacation and I'd have more time available.

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.

They wanted to give us something that could be easily mixed up from ingredients already in our kitchens.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been meaning to try my hand at tuiles, but just haven't gotten around to it.  We were required to use a specific recipe, shape the tuiles in some way, and pair them with something light.  


I knew I wanted to make some sort of cup out of mine to meet the shaping requirement.  I made some delicious sorbet last week that I could put in the cups, and that fit the requirement that we pair our tuiles with something light.  After mixing and chilling the batter, I took part of it and tinted it pink with some gel food coloring.  I used my small offset spatula to spread large circles of batter on my sheet pan that I had lined with non-stick foil (I love that stuff!).  Then I had some fun decorating them with spirals and dots.


I think I had the batter a bit too thick, and it took about 9 minutes for the tuiles to start turning a faint brown around the edges.  I think I baked them too long, because when I tried to shape them over a ramekin, they cracked.  So I made some more, baking them for a couple minutes less.  They were okay to shape, but I wish I'd been able to get them a bit more brown, for better flavor.  Later I had the idea to make some thinner freeform tuiles for a garnish, and I was able to get them much more brown.  


The verdict?  I found that although the formation of the tuiles looks fairly simple, getting a good result can be a bit more difficult than it at first appears.  I definitely want to try this again to see if I can get a better result.  I'd also like to try another recipe to see if I can get something that's more crisp while still flexible enough to shape.  Brianna and Gillian seemed to enjoy eating the pieces from my broken first attempt, and Brianna asked if I could make bowls like that again some time.

If you want to try your hand at this month's challenge, head over to Karen's blog or Zorra's blog for the recipe.  And be sure to check out the Daring Bakers blogroll to see what everyone else came up with!


18 comments:

  1. I like the pink color and the way you decorated your tuiles. They look great.

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  2. I love the dots and stripes! They actually look like little puppet hats, so much fun!

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  3. These are completely gorgeous. They make me want to throw a spring garden party right now -- forget that fact that it's freezing and we haven't seen a sunny day here in roughly 6 weeks. I think you did a fabulous job!

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  4. OH! How amazing Di! You went all out and made those tuiles so pretty!
    Wasn't it fun to do? ...delicate and sometimes hard... but how nice to now be able to embelish all kinds of desserts, in a fashion just as fancy as 5 stars restaurants! LOL
    Absolutely marvelous... I'm a real sucker for pink (if you don't know by now! LOL), so perhaps, I'm not totaly impatrial to those cute swirls!

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  5. Those are some pretty decorations, I can see why your daughter wants you to make more. :-)

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  6. I tried to make cups with mine too and that didn't work at all. Pink dots and stripes, what a light fun idea to brighten the dead of winter!

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  7. Love the pink!
    Mine were a bit thick too, but since I was baking at the last minute, I didn't think to alter the batter.
    Is that get colour mixed with something or just straight? I have invested in a box of them but am too chicken to use them yet.

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  8. I love the pink! You were very creative with your shaping!

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  9. I love the pink! They look so pretty! I wasn't totally successful with mine, but I'm hoping the next time will go better!

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  10. I love that you used pink in your tuiles! Very creative! Great job!

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  11. I totally love dots and stripes and so your pinks are so cute. No Diva Tuiles this week allowed. Great Job
    Amy Ruth

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  12. I love those pink dots and swirls on your tuiles. They make them look very pretty.
    Cheers,
    Elra

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  13. Di, your Tuiles are so lovely with all their pinkness! Great job with creativity!

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  14. Very pretty and very creative. I imagine that it's harder than it looks, but I think you did a great job nonetheless.

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  15. Well done, very nice tuiles!

    In fact your are right mine were very crisp but hard to shape.

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  16. What cute decorations! I had difficulty getting mine brown and able to shape too; so the last few batches (post pictures) I browned up a lot and didn't bother shaping - delicious!

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