Tuiles Recipe

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You’ll love my easy to follow Tuiles Recipe – wafer thin crispy perfection to top ice cream or desserts. Ideal to use up leftover egg whites ! This French tuile recipe includes instructions for Almond Tuiles, Chocolate Dipped Tuiles and Biscuit Curls.

Although you may think tuiles are difficult to make, in reality, the recipe is relatively straightforward. That said, if this is your first time making tuiles there are a few things to watch out for.

I recommend reading through this post or watching the video for hints and tips so your tuiles turn out first time.

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Tuiles are one of my favourite biscuits to have with a cup of coffee. So whenever I order a coffee at the local cafe on market day here in France, I’m looking forward to the biscuit as much as the coffee.

Speculoos biscuits are served and if I’m really lucky it’s a Speculoos tuile, whisper thin and delicately spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and cloves.

What Are Tuiles ?

Tuiles are ultra thin wafer biscuits or cookies, a French Classic served with coffee, ice cream or desserts. Tuiles (pronounced tweels) is a French word for tiles and it seems the curved shape of traditional French clay roof tiles is the origin of the name. (Don’t get OH started on regional pantile variations and slate.)

Whilst the traditional shape of this delicious wafer is curved, these crisp French wafers come in all shapes and sizes. The curved shape is made by placing the baked tuiles over a rolling pin as soon as they come out of the oven and leaving to harden.

Ingredients For Classic Tuiles

You only need 4 ingredients to make the basic tuile batter.
egg whites
caster sugar
melted butter
plain flour

Whenever I make a recipe that only requires egg yolks, such as ice cream, a custard or a rich pastry I freeze the egg whites until I need them for a recipe that calls only for egg whites.

If you do freeze egg whites, make sure you label your container with the number of egg whites it contains. Alternatively, an egg white tends to be just the right volume to fill one spot of an ice cube tray.

Once frozen, you can transfer your “egg white cubes” to a bag within your freezer. Frozen egg whites will keep for up to a year and should be defrosted at room temperature before using.

Almond Tuiles

To make almond tuiles add two or three drops of almond extract to the tuile recipe mix and scatter flaked almonds on top of each tuile before baking.

Spiced Tuiles

The basic tuile recipe can be adapted to your favourite flavours, for instance, the ever popular classic vanilla. My favourite remains Speculoos but cinnamon and ginger work equally well as stand alone flavours. Pumpkin pie spice mixes are another option for tuiles.

Sesame

I love the nutty flavour of sesame. Simply sprinkle your tuiles with sesame seeds before baking.

Coconut

Add a tropical flavour to your tuiles by sprinkling your tuiles with shredded coconut before baking. The perfect accompaniment to a mango or pineapple sorbet.

How To Make French Tuiles

Tuiles might look difficult to make but the batter couldn’t be easier and shaping is straightforward once you get the hang of it. You don’t need a mixer and as recipes go tuiles are hardly any work at all.

It’s a case of whisking the egg whites until slightly frothy before adding the sugar and whisking again to mix.

Add the flour and mix with your whisk.

Pour in the melted butter and give the batter a last stir or two with your whisk. You’re ready to go.

The mixture can be kept in the fridge for up to a week so you can make your batter in one go and then spread the baking over a couple of sessions.

You don’t need to buy a template (or make one from acetate sheet) to make tuiles as you can easily shape them by eye. OH made me a template from an ice cream tub lid using a hole saw to get the circular shape but you can just cut out the shape you want with a sharp craft knife or scissors.

Using a lined baking tray, drop a teaspoonful of the tuile batter into your template if using one or straight onto the lined tray if not. Ideally, line your baking tray with a silicone non-stick mat. Spread and flatten your batter with the back of a spoon.

If you don’t have a silicone mat you can use baking parchment but parchment does tend to move around as you flatten your shapes.
For me, my Vermell Flama mat is definitely the best silicone mat I’ve used and well worth buying. I use it all the time for many different recipes.

How To Bake

The secret is not to bake too many tuiles at once – only bake them in batches you can work with. I find six to a baking sheet easy to cope with and I tend to put two trays at a time in the oven.

When making tuiles for the very first time I recommend baking only one tray, especially if you plan to shape them.

Keep your eye on your oven, tuiles aren’t in the oven for very long and oven temperatures vary. As soon as the tuiles are golden around the edges and pale in the centre, remove from the oven.

Work quickly with a pallette knife to remove the baked tuiles from the lined baking sheet and place over a rolling pin to make a curved shape. Press gently and allow to cool.

It’s best to let your baking sheets cool down before you bake your next batch.

How To Make Tuile Biscuit Curls

The first time I made a biscuit curl I used the handle of a wooden spoon to roll the hot tuiles around. After a bit of practice, I found it much easier to roll them with my fingers. Do be careful as they are very hot, OH reckons I’ve got asbestos fingers !

The key is to work as quickly as you can. If your tuiles have hardened so you can’t shape them, you could try putting them back in the oven for a minute to soften them.

Belgian Chocolate Dipped Cigar Tuiles

Roll your tuiles loosely in a cylinder shape like a cannoli if you are going to fill them with cream or ganache or roll more tightly to serve as a biscuit or cookie.

Dip your cooled and shaped tuiles into melted chocolate and leave to set on baking parchment.

How To Make Tuile Cups Or Bowls

I love ice cream or chocolate mousse served in a tuile basket. They look so professional and yet are deceptively easy to make. Just make sure that you add your filling at the last minute because a tuile basket will soften relatively quickly when in touch with moisture.

You’ll need something around which to form your tuile basket. Choose a glass or small bowl or even an empty drinks can – anything you can drape a hot tuile over. Make sure you form a large enough circle of tuile batter on your silicone mat. I’ve found a 15cm / 6 inch diameter circle works well.

Once baked, ease the tuile off the baking sheet with a palette knife and place over your glass or bowl. Press gently to shape and leave to cool.

How To Store

Tuiles are prone to attracting moisture because of their high sugar content. It’s important to store them as soon as they have cooled down. I use a glass Kilner jar or Le Parfait jar but any food container with a good seal will keep your tuiles crisp.

How Long Do They Keep ?

Kept in an airtight container they will keep fresh and crisp for at least a week. As a matter of fact, we’ve kept ours for two weeks and they have been fine.

How To Serve

Serve with a cup of coffee and enjoy your tuiles just as they are. Or you could add an elegant tuile touch to your favourite dessert. Served with ice cream tuiles add a wonderfully crunchy texture.

If You Like This Recipe … you might also like:

Pink Peppercorn Shortbread Hearts

Healthy Digestive Biscuits

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Pin My Tuiles Recipe For Later

I’m entering my Tuiles Recipe into a couple of challenges this month:

• Credit Crunch Munch created by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All & Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours & hosted this month by Lisa over at Lovely Appetite.
• The No Waste Food Challenge created by Elizabeth over at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Dairy and hosted this month by Michelle at Utterly Scrummy.

And linking to:

• Fiesta Fridays
• Bake of the Week co-hosted by Sarah at Maison Cupcake & Helen at Casa Costello (this week hosted by Sarah)