April has just flown by and we all meet again for another monthly Daring Bakers’ challenge. The April 2011 challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz who chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. In her featured example, she uses a baked bacon cup to serve her detectable mousse. For my containers I was inspired by the spirit of Easter celebrations around me, hence I thought of baking tuiles to hold my maple mousse and Easter eggs. Yea, there can never be Easter for me without my creme-filled eggs and chocolate bunnies!
Tuiles are thin crisp cookies with a lacy texture. The name comes from their traditional curved shape that copies the shape of roofing tiles once used in France. The idea is to spread the batter into thin circles on a well buttered baking sheet and lay the cookies over a rolling pin while they are still warm and pliable. I took the recipe for tuiles from the January 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge [graciously hosted by Karen @ Bake My Day! and Zorra @ 1x umrühren bitte] and adapted it ever so slightly by replacing the vanilla sugar with a dash of almond extract.
While I was somewhat apprehensive about their outcome, it took me only two attempts to get my tuiles right. I would suggest that you run a test batch first to adjust the baking time and temperature so that your tuiles do not turn dry and brittle. As I did not have much time to devote to this month’s challenge, my last-minute tuile baskets were not as fancy as I would have liked them to be. Given a second chance, I would probably give these lovely tuile spoons from Sprinkle Bakes a try to use up the remaining mousse.
The maple mousse was what I liked most about this challenge. Pure maple syrup was not hard to get hold of but it did cost me a small fortune: Rs300 for 250ml at Monoprix. I was not a bit disappointed with this investment as the mousse turned out to be as smooth and silky as I could care to imagine. Thanks, Evelyne, for the maple mousse recipe and for this great challenge!
- Bring maple syrup [not maple-flavoured syrup] to a boil then remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking.
- This is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
- Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between).
- Or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
- Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
- Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
- Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.
- Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed), 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 or paste.
- Be careful to not over mix. Cover the bowl 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.
- Preheat oven to 180 oC or 350 oF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil or template.
- Press stencil on baking sheet and use an off-sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes.
- 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/bend the cookies in the desired shape.
- Cookies have to be shaped when still warm. Bake a small amount at a time or put them in the oven to warm up again.
- Shape immediately after baking using a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups or cones.
6 comments
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April 27, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Crumbs of Love
I love your cookies. Very festive. Happy belated Easter
April 27, 2011 at 9:08 pm
K
your tuiles remind me of langue de chat! miam!
April 28, 2011 at 3:05 am
prerrnamirchi
They did taste very much like langue de chat now that you mention it 🙂
April 28, 2011 at 11:37 pm
carlysulli
Beautiful! Your mousse looks perfect and I love the little Easter eggs on top! Great job with the challenge. It was really cool to see what everyone came up with this month.
April 30, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Aparna
Your bite sized mousse on tuiles looks so pretty. Heaven on a spoon describes it well. 🙂
May 4, 2011 at 7:56 am
lisamichele
Gorgeous tuiles, and topping the mousse with the little Easter eggs is such a cute idea – festive! I will it keep in mind for next Easter, as I really loved the mousse 🙂