Sailing the Pink Seas

Tuile Boats with whipped cream and strawberry cream

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was French Tuiles. Light and fragile as can be. I can definitely not call this month a success cause we were a part of several mishaps as we waded our way in making these fragile bits. First my one year old chanced upon the chocolate sauce bottle as I was playing with refrigerating tuile dough and baking tray. Next thing we had a delicious choco-baby and chocolate floor (right when I was using the tuile stencils). Thank God for my 3 year old(who loves to keep an eye on such situations and raises the alarm only when the deed is done;-) )………otherwise I would not even have noticed and continued my play. Next, when I thought I had learnt how to roll these exactly as I wanted to……….kept the last batch in the oven ………………………………….and ………….forgot to take it out ………until it turned into crisp , dark brown ………..yes, burnt.

Anyway, in spite of all this , as usual with daring bakers, the tuiles were delicious and very fragile. They paired beautifully with the strawberry cream I made. I learnt a fabulous way to garnish in future. I will certainly use these in my desserts.

I paired these with Light and easy strawberry Cream. The strawberries were courtesy of Locavorious. I must say that they were better than store bought frozen ones and my son just loves to snack on them plain. A very big thank you to Rena Basch who gave these to us free of cost. I joined a fabulous group of Michigan Lady Food Bloggers and through them I came to know of locavores. I will try and join them next season.

Local Strawberries

Light & Easy Strawberry Cream

The Recipe:

• Strawberries 1 cup (fresh /frozen)
• Sugar 1 tsp.
• Sugar Free Strawberry gelatin 6 oz (1 pack)
• Water 1/2 cup
• Fat free Whipped Topping 2 cups thawed

This is an extremely simple recipe. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup hot water. Puree the strawberries in the blender with 1 tsp. sugar. No need to thaw the strawberries. Add the strawberry puree to the gelatin and mix well. Put  this in the refrigerator for half an hour. When it has started to set a little, add the whipped topping and fold it in the gelatin mixture carefully. Back it goes in the refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours. Ready!! Pair it with tuiles and a sprinkle of best aged balsamic vinegar and we have a classic dessert ready.

Light & Easy Strawberry Cream

For a little shaping up after the holidays, we’re adapting an air of lightness, adding a touch of crisp and maybe even go nuts. A challenge that’s more about technique than about baking a recipe. With the choices given, we think you’ve got plenty of options to chose something that’s individually challenging. You are allowed every flavor in the universe, you may go round or square, roll or fold but you need to shape up!
So here we go; January – something light… Tuiles – what could be lighter??
Traditionally, tuiles are thin, crisp almond cookies that are gently molded over a rolling pin or arched form while they are still warm. Once set, their shape resembles the curved French roofing tiles for which they’re named. The Dutch angle: traditionally this batter was used to bake flat round cookies on 31st December, representing the year unfold. On New Years day however, the same batter was used but this day they were presented to well-wishers shaped as cigars and filled with whipped cream, symbolizing the New Year that’s about to roll on. And of course the batter is sometimes called tulip-paste….

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.

About the shaping: you don’t need to buy anything especially for this challenge, I made the stencils I used for the butterflies myself out of thick plastic sheet and cut out the desired shape. You can use anything you have handy in your kitchen/house like broomsticks, knitting needles, cups, cones.. use your imagination.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.
Recipe:

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 / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ 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 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180 C / 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 (180 C/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….

Anything you’d like to know and more: http://www.pastrysampler.com/Questions_ … /tuile.htm

There are more alternative recipes too  Nougatine, Chocolate Tuiles, Savory tuile/cornet recipe. These recipes can be found at host’s blogs here. To check out who has made what , check out the Daring Bakers’ blogroll.

Wish I had done the savory…..the husband wanted me to but I couldn’t some other time:-) Not a great start to 2009 but then there’s hope………I see it just behind the snow 🙂

Expenditure:

Parchment paper : $ 2.84 from Walmart lots left

And a huge big thank you to Rena for the strawberries!