Tuile Madness with the Daring Bakers

January has flown by and here we are at the end of the month with another Daring Bakers challenge. It is tuile madness this month.

We were given three tuile recipes. We had to choose one and build a dessert around it. A pretty simple task that had my brain spinning for days. “What to do, what to do”. Sometimes simple doesn’t mean easy, but that is what I liked about the challenge. It is wide open to each individual’s imagination.

Although I only followed one of the recipes given to us, I created similar tuiles with slightly different methods.

I had many ice creams and sorbets in the freezer so immediately thought about making chocolate and vanilla ice cream cones with the sugar tuile recipe. I paired the cones with chocolate and devonshire lemon ice creams. I was really inspired by the bi-color Italian cookies we used to eat with ice cream growing up.

Then came the chocolate tuiles. The recipe we were given called for dark chocolate and almonds, but I decided to use white chocolate and vanilla bean instead. I paired it with lemon streusel and blood orange sorbet. I love the contrast of the vanilla specs next to the white chocolate and the sweet and sour flavor combination.

Finally, and the most delicate of them all, are these nougatine cannelloni that were inspired by a recipe I learned from chef Christophe Michalak a few years ago. I remember having to make them for an entire week for a special we had at the restaurant where I was working. Every day, I guarded those little cannellonis with my life because the slightest movement could crush them into a million pieces. One must be gentle with these, but the result is out of this world.

They are filled with gianduja chantilly and they just dissolve in your mouth.

Vanilla and Chocolate Tuiles

adapted from “The Chocolate Book” by Master Chef Angélique Schmeinck.

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
A couple of drops of red food coloring

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.

Mix a small amount of the batter with red food coloring and some with cocoa powder.

Cover the bowls 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 a silicon mat. Place a stencil with a circle cut out (about 4″ in diameter) on the mat. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate and vanilla batters. Leave some room in between your shapes. Place the red batter in a paper piping bag and pipe lines on the circles.

Bake 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 into cornettes. Keep them in an airtight container until ready to use.

Devonshire Cream and Lemon Ice Cream

adapted from “Frozen Desserts” by Chef Migoya

450 grams whole milk
Zest of 3 medium lemons
180 grams sugar
100 grams egg yolks
375 grams devonshire cream

Place the whole milk, lemon zest and half of the sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. Temper the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk base and whisk. Return this to the saucepan and cook to 84C.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the devonshire cream. Whisk to break up any lumps. Strain the whole ice cream base through a fine sieve into a clean bowl.

Chill the mixture in an ice bath and once cool, refrigerate overnight. Churn the base in ice cream machine.

Nougatine Cannelloni

adapted from Christophe Michalak

150 grams fondant patissier
100 grams glucose
87.5 grams slivered blanched almonds
12.5 grams butter

Cook glucose and fondant to 180C. Remove from heat and add the almonds and butter. Spread this on a silicon mat and let it cool completely. Grind to a fine powder in a food processor.

Place the powder in a sieve and dust over a rectangular stencil that is placed on a silicon mat. Sprinkle enough to cover the entire surface but not too much. We want a thin nougatine.

Lift up stencil from the mat carefully and bake in a 375F oven for about 4 minutes until lightly golden and the sugar lightly melts. Let the nougatine cool for about 30 seconds on the hot baking sheet and when pliable, roll around a cylinder forming a tube. Work quickly so the nougatine doesn’t harden and break. If cools down too fast, you can return the nougatine to the oven to warm up.

Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Gianduja Chantilly

250 grams heavy cream
100 grams gianduja

Boil the cream and pour over the gianduja. Stir until the gianduja is completely melted. Refrigerate this ganache overnight and whip to thick ribbon when ready to use.

Place cream in a pastry bag and pipe into the nougatine tubes. Serve right away.

White Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Tuiles

100 grams white couverture pistoles
1 vanilla bean

Temper the couverture, and stir in the vanilla bean seeds. Take some of the couverture with the tip of an offset spatula and spread over acetate paper strips. Place the strips on a tuile pan to shape them before the chocolate hardens. Let the tuiles sit at room temperature to harden completely.

Blood Orange Sorbet

250 grams blood orange juice
110 grams sugar
2 grams sorbet stabilizer
60 grams atomized glucose
200 grams water

Place water in a saucepan and heat slightly. Add the atomized glucose, whisk and bring to a boil. Mix the sugar and the sorbet stabilizer in a bowl and add to the boiling syrup. Whisk and return syrup to a boil. Remove from heat.

Refrigerate the syrup for at least 4 hours. Add the blood orange juice to the syrup and churn in ice cream machine. Freeze.

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.

Please visit other Daring Bakers to see their interpretations of the challenge.