For cooks who have at least the basics of kitchen craft under their apron strings, London chef and Michelin star owner Jean-Christophe Novelli offers a guide to the next level. In Your Place or Mine, Chef Novelli takes the adventuresome cook to the core of his exciting, eye-catching work, where some pretty simple techniques for enhancing flavor team up with whimsy.
There is nothing new about tuile. It is a classic cookie mix that has been used over the years to accompany all kinds of desserts. What is exciting is how you work with it as, while it is warm, it can be fashioned into whatever shape you like. If you prefer, you can use a food processor to make the mixture.
Makes about 24
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
whites of 3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Gradually beat in the egg white, then fold in the flour until you have a smooth paste. Chill for about 2 hours.
Place small spoonfuls of the mixture about 4 inches apart on a nonstick baking sheet, then spread these out into rounds with a spatula.
Bake for about 4 minutes until the mixture is just beginning to color (keep checking).
Remove from the oven and leave to cool very slightly until you can handle them. Shape the rounds by draping them over the length of a rolling pin or as described below. Leave until completely cool and set, then lift off gently. you can keep the tuiles in an airtight container for up to a week.
Other Shapes:
Baskets Depending on the size you want, drape your warm rounds of baked tuile over the top of a clean bottle or gently press them inside a tea or custard cup and leave until cool.
Stencils Take a piece of clean cardboard and cut out the shapes you want: say, flowers or leaves. Lay the cardboard stencil on your baking sheet and spread the mixture over the top. Lift off the cardboard carefully before baking.
Cigars Take a piece of clan cardboard and cut out a series of oblongs about 1/2 inch wide and 8 inches long. Proceed as for the stencils above. When the tuile comes out of the oven and is cool enough to handle, wind each strip loosely around a sharpening steel or wooden spoon handle. Leave until cold, then slide off.
Chocolate Edging The tuile shapes can be decorated by mixing a little of the tuile mixture with a little cocoa powder. This can be piped around the edges of flower shapes, or along the center of the strips for "cigars," before the tuile goes into the oven.
