As the Accidental Locavore promised last week, here’s the recipe for the tuiles that went with the salted caramel chocolate mousse. Tuiles are really easy to make, and even easier if you have a Silpat. Both make about a dozen.
Sweet (Caramel) Version:
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 Tbs. water
Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter then stir in the sugar, syrup and water. Continue to stir until it comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir in the flours mixture until smooth. Spoon onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Make sure to leave plenty of room around them, they’ll spread.
Bake for 7-10 minutes until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about a minute before shaping them. If you want to make tubes, you may use your fingers to do this or lightly butter the handle of a wooden spoon and roll them around that. If you want to make small dishes, drape them over a small bowl or ramekin. Set on a rack to cool. You have more time to work them than you might think but if they get too stuff to roll, place them back in the oven for half a minute or so and they will soften again.
Savory Version:
- 2 cups grated Parmesan
Preheat the oven to 350° (Do not use convection!).
On a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper, drop the cheese into small, cookie-sized piles. Bake until the cheese is melts and forms lacy disks, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool a minute and shape like the sweet version above. Cool on a rack. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict: Sweet or savory, these are so simple but always impressive! The caramel ones added exactly the crunch I wanted with the chocolate mousse. If they look square in the photo it’s because I didn’t space them far enough apart and they needed to be coaxed into shapes. Lesson learned.
The savory ones (otherwise known as fricos) are even easier to make and are great in things like Caesar Salad. I’m not sure about the caramel ones, but you can make the savory ones one at a time in a small frying pan. We’ve even tried embedding things like a slice of salami in them — less than successful.
