Tuiles & Daring Bakers – Junk Food Post #26

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.

So for this installment of unResolution month, two grand traditions have come together.  These being what can only become an annual BlogWellDone.com tradition, unResolution month, and what can only become a monthly BlogWellDone.com tradition, the Daring Bakers.  For those unaware of the Daring Bakers, it’s a secret organization of bakers and food bloggers who meet triannually at a secret location known as The Meadows.

Actually, it’s an group of dedicated bakers that get together to take on Iron Chef-level baking challenges, challenges for which I feel like a wee baby lying on my back and flailing my arms, all the time crying for momma.

If only I knew how to bake.

But in the spirit of unResolution month, I knew I had to try to make

Tuiles

A tuile summed up briefly, is a delicate almond cookie.  For the challenge, I was to make the dough, shape it, and pair it with something light.  Easy, no?

Now, a tuile is supposed to look like this:

I however, went with the alternate recipe:

Chocolate Tuiles

Michel Roux’s Finest Desserts
Makes 30
Preparation time: 15 minutes!

9 oz/250 grams dark or white couverture or best-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup/75 gr slivered almonds, toasted and cooled

Temper the couverture, and stir in the toasted almonds. Place the template on a sheet of rodoïde (or use a clean sheet of sturdy plastic such as a folder) and fill with about 1 tbs of the mixture. Repeat the process a little distance away from the first one. As soon as you have 5 tuiles fit, slide them onto a mold or rolling pin (side of a glass) to curve. Let cool completely, lift tuiles off the plastic only after the chocolate has set and just before serving, so that they keep their shine.

I was going to mold my little tuiles into cornucopia shapes, fill them with berries, and rest them on a bed of half white and half dark chocolate.  The whole thing would have been topped with powdered sugar and I would not have felt like the utter baking failure I am.

Ha!

My Tuiles FAILED.  Miserably FAILED.  The chocolate never tempered right, I could never mold them, and I sure as heck never got to lay them on a bed of two colors of chocolate.  The berries were right out.

However, from my miserable failure, I came up with these notes:

  1. Do not skimp on chocolate.  Cheaper chocolate does not temper easily nor does it want to mold.
  2. Don’t use white chocolate.  It never wanted to stay together.
  3. Feel free to break the slivered almonds up into smaller, more easily molded pieces.
  4. Use non-stick spray on the silpat mat.

Once my camera stops wigging out on me, I shall post photographic evidence of my failure for all the world to see.  Until then, please look the picture of what a tuile should look like.  It’s much prettier than mine.

Enjoy!

The photo is copyright Bake My Day!

3 Comments

  1. This is a very sad tale! I can truly say, “Brother, I have BEEN there.” Not with your particular set of ingredients, but can I tell you about a Yule Log that turned into a Yule Stump at 4:00 on Christmas Eve because someone couldn’t make the jelly roll actually roll. The horror. I still wake up in a cold sweat over that one, sometimes 😀

    Moral of your story, and mine, if we learn something from our spectacular failures, then maybe we haven’t failed at all. Still looking forward to your pix, however;)

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