Chocolate Tuiles Food

VANILLA OR CHOCOLATE TUILES

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Beat in the egg whites, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
• Lower the speed and add the flour or flour-cocoa mixture (see Cook's Note) and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Cover bowl and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cut a small hole (about 3 1/2 inch diameter) in a thin piece of cardboard or plastic to serve as a template in forming the tuiles. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat and place the stencil on it. Using a small off-set spatula, place a small amount of the batter in the center of the hole of the stencil and spread it out evenly. Carefully lift the stencil off. Repeat for more cookies.
• Bake in preheated oven until lightly brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and while still hot, remove tuiles from the pan and drape them over a rolling pin. Allow to sit a few minutes to harden and cool. Store in an airtight container.

TUILES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and flour and mix until combined. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition just until well blended, about 1 minute in all. Refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have a rolling pin at hand. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
• Spoon 2 teaspoons of the batter onto the baking sheet and with a small, offset metal spatula, spread it evenly into a 3-inch circle. Repeat to form more tuiles, baking only 6 to 8 at a time. Refrigerate the remaining batter while you bake the tuiles.
• Bake the tuiles for 4 to 6 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and immediately shape the tuiles, lifting up each one with a metal spatula and draping it over the rolling pin so it curves, just until set. Repeat with the remaining batter. Store the tuiles in a cool dry place in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

CHOCOLATE TUILE ICE CREAM CONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cocoa and mix to combine. Gradually beat in egg whites and continue to beat for 4 minutes.
• Trace a 5-inch circle onto a large, flexible plastic lid or cutting mat. Using scissors, cut lip from lid. With a utility knife, cut out circle to make a stencil.
• Place stencil on a baking sheet. Using a small offset spatula, spread a thin layer of batter over stencil; carefully lift up stencil. Transfer to oven and bake for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a spatula, roll circles around a wooden reamer to form a cone; let cool completely. Repeat process to make 16 cones.

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE TUILES

Steps:

• Halve 4 parchment paper sheets lengthwise and set aside. Prepare a stencil using a piece of cardboard 6 inches long by 4 inches wide. Draw a circle 2 1/2 inches in diameter in the upper half of the cardboard then cut out the circle. The stencil is the cardboard with the circle removed.
• Melt and temper the chocolate (see pages 25-30), then stir in the ground hazelnuts thoroughly. Set the stencil over a strip of parchment paper and spread about a tablespoon of the mixture over the opening, using an offset spatula with a 4-inch blade. The tuiles should be no more than 1/8 inch thick. Lift the stencil off the parchment paper and scrape the excess chocolate mixture from the stencil back into the bowl. You should be able to place 4 tuiles on each strip of parchment paper.
• Let the tuiles set for 3 to 4 minutes, then carefully drape the parchment paper with the tuiles over a rolling pin that is set on a jelly roll pan. Chill the tuiles in the refrigerator until firm (10 to 15 minutes). Gently peel the parchment paper off of the curved tuiles. In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil, the tuiles will keep for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the refrigerator. The tuiles are best served at room temperature.
• White Chocolate Tuiles: Substitute 10 ounces white chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate.
• Coconut Chocolate Tuiles: Substitute 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut, lightly toasted, for the hazelnuts.
• Nibby Tuiles: Substitute 1 cup roughly chopped cacao nibs for the hazelnuts.

CHOCOLATE TUILE BATTER

Steps:

• Sift flour with cocoa, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium until well-combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg whites, one at a time, beating for 4 minutes after each addition. Add the flour-and-cocoa mixture, and mix until just combined.
• Reserve 1/2 cup batter; place in a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip, and set aside for piping white tuile cookies.

COCONUT TUILES

Steps:

• Melt the butter, then leave until cool, but still runny. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4 and line a baking sheet with non-stick silicone.
• Whizz the coconut in a food processor until finely ground, but not powdery. Whizz in the icing sugar and flour, then the egg whites followed by the cooled butter - you should have a smooth, slightly runny paste. Scoop this out into a bowl.
• Put a teaspoon of the mixture on the silicone and spread with the back of a dessertspoon into a neat thin 7cm round. Alternatively, place a round stencil on the silicone and scrape the mixture flat in the hole with a palette knife. Shape 3-4 at a time, leaving space between.
• Bake in batches for 7 minutes each, until pale golden around the edges. Remove and scrape off on to a wire rack to cool. To shape, press each one over a rolling pin as it cools.