Almond Tuiles

When I was a little girl, my mom and I would walk down to a local French bakery.  It was always a fun trip, where I would look wonderingly at the breads, cookies, and tarts.  They always looked so perfect, so deliberate.  The beautiful curls of chocolate, the delicately displayed fruit, and the perfectly curved almond tuiles.  We would walk home with a beautiful little pink box full of delightful goodies, and them share them over a cup of tea and juice (in a teacup, of course).

This has always been a wonderful memory, but it had been years since I tried an almond tuile.  So when I stumbled across this recipe, I was excited to see if it would live up to my expectations.  And I have to say, these were surprisingly delicious!  Even better - they are incredibly easy.

Considering how pretentious and almond tuile looks, you would expect there to be a corresponding degree of difficulty in the execution of said cookie.  But no.  These are incredibly simple (as in: one bowl, one whisk, a few ingredients. Done).  The batter is just a tiny bit awkward, but if you have a little faith and push through, it is surprisingly forgiving, resulting in consistently beautiful cookies.     

And you are welcome to leave them flat.  I just can't resist the traditional, curved, tile-shaped cookie.  After all, foods always taste better when in funny shapes.  Everyone knows that.  Look at all the different shapes of pasta, for goodness sake.  So curve away.  You don't really need any special equipment.  Just a rolling pin.  And who doesn't have a rolling pin?

Almond Tuiles

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

1/2 cup cake flour

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

2 large egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup sliced (flaked) almonds

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  

In a large bowl, whisk together flour and confectioners' sugar.  Add egg whites, vanilla, and almond extract, and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Whisk in melted butter until blended and batter is smooth and shiny.

Using a scant tablespoon of batter for each cookie, form six 3-4 inch rounds on a prepared baking sheet, spreading them with a narrow, thin offset metal spatula and spacing them about three inches apart.  The batter will look translucent and the parchment will show through in some places.  Scatter the cookies with slivered almonds.  Bake cookies until they have a border that is evenly brown, but the center remains light, 6-8 minutes.  

Remove cookies from the oven, and with the help of a thin metal spatula, immediately lift warm cookies from the baking sheet and rest on a rolling pin or wine bottle, making sure they do not touch.  

When cookies are firm and slightly cooled, remove from rolling pin and allow to cool completely on a baking rack.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two days.  

Makes 18-24 cookies