January Challenge: Making Tuiles

It's the start of 2009 and I am quite pleased with this year's first Daring Bakers challenge, making Tuiles! It's surprisingly easy and very creative! This is one recipe to keep and will be specially fun to mold into different shapes and artistic pieces.

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.

For this month, the rules were: (1) use one of the batter recipes given. In my case, i actually used the recipe from Chef Angelique (2) shape it anyway you like and you can do it before (using a stencil) or right after baking. I actually used a simple pattern to achieve a circle shape before baking, and i molded the Tuile like a serving bowl just right after baking. Lastly, (3) pair it with something light. I paired my Tuile with chocolate and durian ice cream (yum, yum!) and I also rolled an extra piece to munch with the ice cream.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Preparation time: batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes,
Baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

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/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

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.

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).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes.

For some decoration, I was planning to make chocolate strips. I realized quite late in the process that i don't have cocoa powder so i used 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate bars melted with a little butter and mixed it with a small part of the Tuile batter, placed it in a piping bag for use later.

Bake the Tuile 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. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.

Check out my lovely assistant in this whole process...

EJ's head can fit into this circle cut out. I used this to shape my batter :-)
In less than 10 minutes, the Tuiles are gone including the ice cream. Success!

Davao Fruits

If there is one thing I pride about my hometown, Davao City, it would be the abundance of tropical fruits. Every visit home would not be complete without a taste of my three favorites, here it is...

Durian, The King of Fruits



A lot of people would shy away from eating this majestic fruit simply because, it smells like rotten cheese! This is the only fruit I find ironic in delicious taste versus it's thorny appearance and strong smell. As for me, 1 seed is already enough to fill my craving but , for my husband, he can eat on and on and on... It takes a true fruit aficionado to appreciate "the King". This particular durian is the "native" type which has a bitter and creamier taste,yum!


The Refreshing Pink Pomelo



Since i started with describing through smell, Davao's pink pomelo is surely a nose pleaser when it comes to the fresh lemon scent that reminds you of drinking lemonade over the hot days of summer. The pink pomelos in Davao is a popular "pasalubong" or gift; you can buy them in wooden crates or boxes on the way to the airport. There are different farms selling this popular fruit; the one good thing is, it is always free to taste so, i normally take advantage and try as much as I can!


The "Marang", a Unique find...



"Marang" (unfortunately i don't know the English name, if there is:-) belongs to the jackfruit family. What is so special about this fruit is, it is abundant only in Mindanao and it is a sweet dessert by itself. Inside, it looks like the giant version of "atis" or sugar-apple. The skin is so soft when ripe and it has a certain smell as well that distinguishes it from other fruits. Just thinking about this fruit reminds of a creamy sugary taste that compliments well with a warm cup of tea, hmmm just so satisfying..

Fish Delicious! @ Lake Sebu

The past Christmas break is a memorable one for me and my family. We had a chance to travel in Mindanao (Philippines) and visited this hidden lake in Sebu, a province of North Cotabato.

The lake is so serene yet surprisingly full of fish! Notice the big fish on the main cottage by the lake -- that is a true icon of the lake's bounty.

Christmas Bread

This is one great bread to serve for Christmas! My mother in law was diligent enough to bake this and made it pretty with mixed dried fruits on top . I planned to post this before leaving Singapore for the Christmas break but obviously, didn't have the time.

This recipe is one of our clippings from an article by Cynthia Low from Singapore's The Straits Times. I'm glad to share this here to have something to remember baking again next Christmas...

Ingredients:
1 sachet dried yeast (14g)
200g mixed dried fruit
3tbs rum or brandy (optional)
400g white bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g caster or light brown sugar
85g butter, cut into pieces
250ml milk
1 egg beaten

Lemon Icing:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1tbs butter

For decoration:
Chopped glazed cherries
Mixed nuts

1. Place the yeast in a small bowl with a tsp of caster sugar and about 1/2 cup of warm (not hot) water. Set aside for 15 mins.
2. Put the dried fruit in a bowl and pour over the rum or brandy and leave to soak while you make the dough.
3. Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Rub the butter into the flour mix until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
4. Warm the milk, then mix into the beaten egg. Pour the yeast mixture, warmed milk and egg into the flour mix. Knead the dough until smooth an elastic, adding a little more flour or milk if it is too sticky or dry.
5. Gather the dough into a ball then knead by hand several minutes on a lightly floured surface. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave until double in size (roughly an hour).
6. Knead the dough a few times more, then roll out to a rectangle about 36cmx15cm. Spread the mixed fruit on the top then loosely roll it up lengthways. From the roll into a circle joining the two ends. Line a flat baking dish with baking paper and lift the circle dough on to it.
7. Using sharp scissors, cut slashes around the outside of the circle. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for 30-45 mins. Heat the oven to 200C.
8. Brush the top with little olive oil and bake for 20-25 mins. When done, cool bread on a wire rack.
9. Make the icing by placing the icing sugar, lemon juice, and butter in a small bowl. Add a tiny amount of boiling water - just enough to soften the butter. Mix until smooth and even consistency for spreading.
10. Spread the icing on the bread and add decorate with glazed cherries, dried mixed peel and nuts on top.