Thursday, January 29, 2009

Daring Bakers January 2009 - Tuiles


Palmetto Tuiles
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.
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. The savory option (tuiles/cornets) was from Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook.

This was something I hadn't done before, and I have never had tuiles, just seen them in cookbooks. I decided to try two of the recipes and play around with shaping them.

If you want the recipes, please go to the blogs of the hostesses, listed above. Including them would make this entry far too long! There were two recipes I didn't try that I'm interested in doing in the future - nougatine and chocolate tuiles. I've seen some amazing versions of those already today!

Scrapbooking stencils for tuiles
The first thing you have to figure out is the shape. I didn't want to make my own stencils, and found a huge pack of good ones in the scrapbooking section. I used a circle to make into cornets, and a palmetto for the sweet recipe.

Savory Tuile Cornets with Goat Cheese Mousse
I made the Thomas Keller recipe one night, and I was in a hurry because I wanted to bring them to book club. To speed things along, I softened the butter in the microwave and it went a little too far. As a result my cornets were never crunchy, just a little soft and greasy. Not what I would have hoped at all, but at the same time, I wasn't really sure what I was going for. They still look cute, and the mousse recipe was simple but tasty.

Palmetto Tuiles
The sweet tuiles recipe from The Chocolate Book worked a lot better for two reasons - I let the butter soften on its own, and the step where I had to chill the dough for 30 minutes made for a much more even baking consistency. These were not greasy at all, but rather crisp and sweet. You can't really tell from the photos, but I did lay the palmettos over a rolling pin so they had some dimension to them. I served them with peach sorbet.

What do I think of tuiles, now that I've made two versions? I'd like to go back and make the savory version the right way. The recipe itself was simple but baking them takes a lot of time for the end result. I think I might make them again for a special occasion, because I like how you can make them into anything.

Categories: Cheese, Cookies, Daring Bakers

62 comments:

Nangil Girl said...

OMG!!! The trees look amazing!! Congratulations!

Catherine Weber said...

Your palm trees are adorable!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Very pretty! Your tuiles are perfect!

Cheers,

Rosa

Karen Baking Soda said...

Yes! A trip to the beach with palmtrees and ice cream to cool you off. Great!

Barbara Bakes said...

Stencils from the scrapbooking store is a fabulous idea! I love the palms!

Anonymous said...

The trees are so cute! Using the scrapbooking stencils was brilliant. I wish I'd thought of that!

Anonymous said...

I love the palm trees... creative and fun!!!

Anonymous said...

those trees look better than the little umbrellas they put on drinks! fantastic job!!!

Anonymous said...

Palm trees?? Fantastic! And yes there is a lovely snow/ice mixture on the ground in Maryland!

Anonymous said...

Very cute tuiles! Love the little palm trees- Great job!

Anonymous said...

I love the palm trees, makes me almost think it is July and I need a margarita!

Anonymous said...

Jenny, I just love these palmtrees :-)!!! That's a wonderful idea and these are so pretty with all the sprinkles on them!! :-) XOXO

Renee said...

Both versions look wonderful! I love your palm trees! So creative!

Dewi said...

Jeni, I really like the trees. Very pretty.

Dragon said...

These look amazing. Great job with this month's challenge.

Anonymous said...

Wowee - I love the palm trees - so creative! To answer the comment you left on my blog - chocolate avocado mousse is delicious & I highly recomend you try it!

Lauren said...

Awe, your tuiles are adorable. I love the palmtrees =D!

Anonymous said...

What an adorable (and tropical) way to present the tuiles! The cornets look amazing too! Nicely done!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi! I did the sweet tuile challenge too and mine came out very small so all I could do is use them as dippers.

I never thought to use a scrapbook stencil!! Thanks so much for trying and ending up with such cute results! The palm trees are adorable and make the ice cream look so special! Great idea!

vibi said...

OH! How I love the palm trees!
No need for stir or pick gadgets when you can make such beautiful add-ons to your parfaits, ice cream and desserts! WOW!

Ivana said...

Fantastic and delicious!!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

love these! especially your palm tree tuiles! it looks like a cocktail!

minisuperbias said...

the palm trees are so festive! fabulous!

Anonymous said...

The palm trees are so cute! Lovely photos!

Namratha said...

Gosh, the trees are amazing! Well done!!

Anonymous said...

Very lovely ''cornet'', lolls so delicious and fresh:)Nice job, for a wondefull challenge:)

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Very cute! And tropical!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

You had fun with this challenges.
And yout "tropical" tuiles are so pretty and colourful.

Anonymous said...

Love the palm trees! Nice job!

CookiePie said...

Both versions look lovely! I love your palm trees - so festive!

Rebecca said...

I love your palm trees, and your cornets--even though you say they were too soft--look delicious. Great job with the challenge!

Anonymous said...

These look great! The Keller recipe is worth another try. I found they weren't greasy if they were a little browner.

TeaLady said...

They came out so good. The palm trees. The 'cannoli'. Great job.

SugarEd Productions said...

Those palm trees are sooooooooooo cute!

Anonymous said...

Aww those trees are SO cute! Love the tropical feel to them :)

Anonymous said...

I love the trees, makes me miss the beach!

sunita said...

Your tuiles look so pretty :-)

hexe said...

I felt the same way about the time involved versus the end result, but your palm trees are too cute!

sarah said...

Your tuiles look great! I love the palm trees!

Laurel said...

I am in awe over your palm trees!

karuna said...

thanks jenny. i like the idea of usiing scrap book cut outs. now that I see all the challenges, i realise that my batter was not very thick.
loved the palm tree shaped ones.

Vegan_Noodle said...

Those palm trees have got to be the cutest tuile cookies I've seen yet!!

chef_d said...

your palm trees are so pretty!

Cody said...

Aww... palm trees. Peach sorbet sounds yummy, and the trees make it look like a fancy frozen tropical drink or something.

Anonymous said...

Beatiful palm trees!!! :)

NKP said...

So cute! Good for you for trying two of the recipes.
I love the palm trees, so creative!

Sara said...

Those palm tree tuiles are so cute! Yum. :)

LizG said...

I love the sesame seeds on your cornets. :) Well done!

Eat4Fun said...

Tasty looking tuiles. The palmettos are so dang cute.

Christina said...

Your palm trees are too cute! The savory ones look so tasty.

Anonymous said...

Loved these! Great job!

Lynne Daley said...

What a clever idea! Your tropical tuiles look very pretty.

alana said...

Wow! These all look great, but that savory cornet with goat cheese mousse is something I need to try. It looks amazing.

zorra said...

I like the palm trees! Well done.

Engineer Baker said...

Those palm trees are adorable! Sorry your cornets were a little greasy, but they look beautiful!

Candy S said...

love the palm trees...so cute.

Joey Biscotti said...

OOOooo!!! I LOVE the trees!!!

natalie said...

Love your palm trees! Good job!gr

Anonymous said...

I love the palm trees. Very tropical.

Anonymous said...

Great job, I adore the palm trees.

Vera said...

Jenny, these palm trees is such a bright idea! Beautiful!

Diana said...

Oooh I love your palm trees! They definitely get greasy, I think the thickness and evenness determines if they crisp. I've got an article posted on my blog (you can search for New York Times) that talks about butter and taught me to never microwave butter because it melts it even if it looks solid. To speed up softening you should cut it into chunks. Maybe that would make a difference? Anyway, you did a great job on the challenge!