Monday, December 6, 2010

Tuile not get the best of me!

What's your favourite thing to bake? Mine is cake. Not only do I love the texture, especially of a sponge cake, but the method suits me. You pay attention for a few minutes while you whip up the batter, then you put it in the oven and you've got at least 25 minutes before you have to pay attention again. Oh, and when you can smell a cake, it's almost ready. Cookies, on the other hand, require a whole different level of attention that I haven't got. Mixing the dough is fine, but then you have to roll it/cut it/mark it with a 'B'/divide it evenly/roll it into balls/roll them in sugar/press them flat with a fork or glass/space them evenly on the baking sheet/prepare that baking sheet/pay attention for 6 to 12 minutes or so/cool on sheet for a bit/remove to a rack to cool/cool baking sheet. And that only gets you about a dozen cookies, so you have to repeat! They sure do taste fantastic fresh from the oven, though. Why am I going on like this? Well, these tuiles and I are not friends, for many reasons. I made them a couple of months ago, to go with some pumpkin ice cream, but it took a few tries to get it right. I got it really wrong in a number of ways, including one smoke alarm incident. You can read about it here.
Tuile version 1.4, from earlier this year
Why could I make complex things, with multiple components like wedding cake, croquembouche, tian and pavlova, but not a simple cookie? So, when this recipe came up in TWD, I was leery. Did I need to make these again? Was it just bad kitchen karma the last time I tried? Well, the answer is yes, and no. I decided to try again, because they seem so simple. 4 ingredients, one of which is maple syrup. Then, Nancy posted the ingredients in weights, so it seemed easy enough just to make a half recipe. That would have been great, except for the attention span issue. Whenever I halve/double a recipe, I always forget to halve/double one ingredient. I can only pay attention for so long... This time it was the flour. I must have forgotten to halve it (for the second time that day), and didn't notice until I went to pull the first tray from the oven. They had hardly spread and could not even charitably be described as lacy. So, I added a bit of butter and syrup to the rest of the batter and tried again. They were even worse. At this point, I thought it was high time to give up. But, as bedtime approached, I couldn't. I made another half batch, carefully measuring all the ingredients this time.
Version 2.1 (in front) and 2.2 (in back): too much flour, but they tasted like
maple fortune cookies. I may be on to something.
Early the next morning, I got the batch you see up top in the oven, and I am so happy to say that they worked out well. They were crisp and lacy, and easy to remove from the baking sheet. I was so happy, that I had a few with breakfast, along with fruit salad in my favourite bowl.
Thanks so much to Clivia for selecting this recipe! I can now say I enjoyed the process, but I am not going to be making these again for a long while! I actually find them too rich and sweet, and greasy coming off the cookie sheets. Or perhaps that's just the contrast with the sour grapes! I promise not to complain next time. Even though I did get strep throat at school. See what the rest of the TWD gang thought here.

26 comments:

yummychunklet said...

Your perseverance is commendable! Great post!

Valerie Gamine said...

Way to tackle the Tuile, Mary! When I first glanced at your post, I couldn't wait to see how you came up with the 'fortune' cookie-like version...I must try that! All of your results look stunning, but I agree that these were a bother to make.

By the way, I also almost always forget the correct measurement of something when I halve a recipe. We must never cook/bake in the same kitchen, ever. The oven might explode. :D

Suz said...

I enjoyed the title of this post very much! I'm another one for halving a recipe and then accidentally adding the full amount of one ingredient, usually flour or sugar. I guess practise must make perfect though - those tuiles look gorgeous!

Hindy said...

I'm speechless. You have conquered these cookies! Each one is lovely and I wish all fortune cookies were maple. The one time I halved the recipe, I forgot to half the brown sugar. They were disgusting and never solidified.
Thanks so very much for baking along with me!

Anonymous said...

I admire your ability to keep trying, It is amazing! I'm so happy that it finally worked out in the end.

steph- whisk/spoon said...

you got perfectly translucent lacy tuiles in the end!! (and i have made fortune cookies before...you are right...they are simply a different type of tuile batter that uses more flour).

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

They're beautiful! And so is that bowl - I love it! :)

RamblingTart said...

They're beautiful, Mary!! Way to stick with it through your flops and forgetfulness. :-) That's great!

Unknown said...

what a lovely last shot! This is a gorgeous meal.

mike said...

Strange, but I like the fortune cookies! So glad you made two batches to find out the difference - how interesting, I never would have thought that. These WERE a challenge, but so good! Both yours look beautiful!

Medifast Coupons said...

Good for you, giving them another go, I think I would of thrown in the towel, well I know I would of.

Tia said...

you're a trooper Mary :)
They look lovely.

Cakelaw said...

Fabulous Mary - you are more diligent than me, as after batch no. 1, I just go DONE however it turned out. I have to say that I rather like your non-lacy ones - they would be great filled like brandy snaps. I agree that they were a little on the greasy side - wshich is possibly why they tasted so good - sigh.

TeaLady said...

YAY for conquering the Tuille. And they look perfect.

A Canadian Foodie said...

Ha Ha to the sour grapes comment - but, did you have to use this specific recipe? Many others are not so sweet. In any case, bravo to you for persevering. Version 2.1 looks pretty darn good to me!
:)
Valerie
PS - I DID make the pumpkin ice cream and was shocked at how "healthy" it tasted!

Valérie said...

Oh, that is a terrible pun in your title! :-D My favourite thing to bake is bread... and I have trouble with a lot of cookies, too, so you are not alone. Tuiles are definitely amongst the things I've messed up the most often. But way to go, the cookies look absolutely perfect! Nice job!

tasteofbeirut said...

Tuiles are not my favorite pastries but I must say, yours are perfect! light and delicate as they should be~

Judy said...

Goodness. Great minds and all that. I had a tuile with some ice cream, too. Yours turned out beautifully.

cocoa and coconut said...

You've done well! Tulies are so hard to do. Yum with icecream :)

Amber Marie said...

These look great! I also made the smoke alarm go off! Oopsy. These are tricky!

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

Great that you kept at it.I have to say your effort was more then worth it. The results are stunning. We have all a few recipes we hate having to revisit...but those are the ones we should push ahead in. I do think the maple fortune cookies are fab lol!

Katrina said...

Your tuiles look great! Love that last photo.

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

That last photo is stunning!! How the light is pouring through the lacy holes!! I have to tell you tuiles make me nervous, but they are something I've always wanted to try... thanks for the inspiring post Mary!! :)

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Jane said...

I love your honesty! I have always been leery of making tuiles. You did a great job, though, and that is inspiring to me.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I love that you tried these again! They look perfect!