January Daring Bakers: Tuiles (With Meyer Lemon-Rosemary Sorbet)

Even the Daring Bakers had light on the brain this month. 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 also chose a savory Tuiles recipe from Thomas Keller.

Can I just say how happy I was to see this challenge? After the cream, sugar and egg ball that was last month's challenge I was really nervous about what I would be faced with this month. The other part of the challenge was to create something light to go with the cookies. A lot of DBers did a mousse, but I wasn't in the mood for more eggs. The farmers market has been flooded with all kinds of citrus and I found a recipe for a lemon-rosemary sorbet. I switched it up by using Meyer lemons which were really delicious. Having a light cookie like this makes me feel better about the insane dinner I am going to have tonight. More on that another day, but to you LA'ers do the words Comme Ca mean anything to you??


The tuile recipe is pretty straightforward. I didn't have any hard plastic laying around that I could cut stencil with so I used a manila folder which worked just fine. I cut out a little hearts to be cute. I also did some free form cookies in the shape of a circle and then made them into cute little cups. I baked 3 cookies at a time and kept them warm by laying the baking pan on the door of the oven. I alternated between three parchment lined baking sheets and kept the sheets I wasn't using in the fridge. Shaping them was really easy for me. I think the key is to spread the batter as thinly as possible and to work quickly once they come out of the oven.

This was a fun and pretty easy challenge and I am happy it didn't take three days to do! Visit the blogroll to see what the other Daring Bakers came up with. There are lots of really creative recipes and many people did savory tuiles so check it out!

Tuiles

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / 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 / 2 1/4 ounces sifted all purpose flour
Butter or 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. 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 or 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.

Bake cookies 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 them up again. 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…

Meyer Lemon-Rosemary Sorbet
(Adapted from Good Housekeeping Step by Step Cookbook: More Than 1,000 Recipes * 1,800 Photographs * 500 Techniques)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
Rosemary sprigs and Meyer lemon slices for garnish

In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, corn syrup, and 2 cups of water to boiling over high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in chopped rosemary. Cover pan and let stand about 20 minutes.

Pour mixture through a sieve set over a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Pour the lemon mixture into a 9x9 metal baking pan (8x8 works fine too); cover with plastic wrap or foil. Freeze, stirring occasionally, about 3 hours until partially frozen.

In a food processor with knife blade attached, blend the lemon mixture until smooth, but still frozen. Return mixture to the baking pan. Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until firm.

To serve, let sorbet stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes to soften slightly for easier scooping; garnish with lemon slices and rosemary sprigs.