I must admit that I’ve never had much success with tuiles in the past.  They were either too thick or horribly chewy; I never managed to achieve the dizzy heights of thin and crispy goodness.  So, I set them aside and mentally classed them as mere fripperies, never to adorn any of my desserts.

With that in mind, I wasn’t overjoyed to see that January’s Daring Bakers challenge was to make tuiles.  They were just too hard! I procrastinated like mad, and finally gave in last night and decided to have a go.  Plus, since we had to make something ‘light’ to go with them, it was a fantastic excuse for me to make some white chocolate mousse.  If it all went wrong then I could just console myself with some mousse… I am cunning like a fox!

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 opted to make the simplest recipe offered by our lovely challenge hostesses: vanilla tuiles.  The chocolate tuiles looked amazingly delicious, but also far too dangerous to have in the house, and the nougatine looked far too difficult.  Simple seemed like it would have the best chance of working out for me!

Making the batter was very easy.  I followed the recipe and my only problem was that I was 10g short of icing sugar, so I ended up blitzing some caster sugar to a powder.  It wasn’t as perfectly ground as the real stuff, but it seemed to work out.  So far, so good…

I made a very simple stencil out of a paper plate and used a butter knife to spread a thin—almost see-through—of tuile batter onto the baking sheet.  Every time I do something like this I think to myself, “I really must buy an offset spatula.  It would make everything so much easier.”  And it really would have.  If you have one, then I really would recommend that you use it for tuile-making attempts.  This recipe makes a really thick batter, much thicker than my previous attempts, which I think made it much easier to spread a thin layer.  If that makes sense?

And the good times just kept on rolling.  The tuiles baked in the specified time and actually looked like tuiles.  Surely the shaping would be where it all went wrong?  Nope… I lfted the tuiles off the baking sheet and wrapped them round little glass jars where they obediently set into pretty and crispy shapes.

I served my pretty, pretty tuiles with a cube of frozen white chocolate mousse—low fat!—and some raspberry coulis.  They tasted as good as they looked and had a satisfying crunch that was a great contrast to the smooth sweetness of the mousse.  Yum!

So, as you can see, I have somewhat conquered my fear of tuiles. They’re not impossible at all!  I shan’t be knocking them out every week, but as the occasional bit of frippery for a special dessert they’re okay   Thanks for helping me beat my fears, Karen and Zorra!

Vanilla Tuiles

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 softened butter (not melted but soft)
• 60 grams 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 sifted all purpose flour
• 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
• Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 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 bakingsheet 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 bakingsheet 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 them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet 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….

White Chocolate Mousse

• 3/4 teaspoon powdered gelatine
• 75g good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
• 185ml skimmed milk
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Place one tablespoon of water in a ramekin or other small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it.  Leave to bloom for 5 minutes.  Put the white chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.

Put the milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Turn off the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatine until dissolved.  Pour this mixture over the chocolate and leave to stand for 1 minute.  Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth.  Cool over ice, stirring occasionally, until the mixture just starts to set.

Whisk the egg white in a large bowl to soft peaks.  Sprinkle in the caster sugar and keep whisking until the mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks.  Fold a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into the meringue to slacken it, then fold this all back into the chocolate.  Scrape mixture into glasses, a serving bowl, or (as I did) into a tin lined with clingfilm.  Leave to set in the fridge.