The name 'tuile' is a french word meaning 'tile,' and when presented in rows are supposed to resemble the curved tiles on the tops of buildings. In their traditional form, a tuile (petit four style cookie) is a flat cookie which has been set over a curved surface while freshly baked and allowed to cool, giving its characteristic curved-tile shape. To achieve its curved shape, you can set over a dowel (both ends balanced so as to not roll). Different diameters of dowels can be used depending on the size of the finished cookie. When I was in the kitchen, I used the end of a small table next to the ovens conveniently containing a 'crumb' lip, which was curved at the front of the table. It was made of the same material as the table, stainless steel, had no seams and made the perfect curves. It was similar to a long cylinder from a tuile mold sheet. A tuile mold sheet (see picture below) is an undulating sheet containing several cylinders to allow these thin cookies to cool in the traditional curved shape, and is made special for tuile cookies. Other things that can be used for curving: rolling pins, inside of long pastry molds, or the lips of many high sided baking molds. It doesn't matter how they are curved; just be sure they are left long enough to fully crisp and harden or they will open up as they cool.

It's important to note that if nuts or other garnishes are to be used in the tuile cookie, placement onto the curved surface is important. Depending on the surface (concave like a surface similar to a tuile mold sheet (curved down), or convex like a surface similar to a dowel, (curved up)), lay them down right-side up or upside-down so that the 'garnished' side is the side that is up, the top of the arch. Otherwise the flat side will be the one displayed. They are generally presented in rows if used in a buffet or for display, or stacked up two or three together as individual petit fours or mignardise. If, when baking, the circles you made turn elongated or more of an oval shape, put the longer ends as the front and back of the cookies and the thinner as the sides. They will stack up evenly with the rest of the cookies in rows.

These cookies are fragile and crisp, and should be made the same day they are to be served, especially in humid climates. Storage of them should be airtight, and if not used the same day, should be used within a couple of days, as the main feature of a tuile is that it's dry and crisp. Care should be taken as to how they are arranged either in a storage container or a covered plate since they are so fragile. A common batter is mixing egg whites with powdered sugar and melted butter with the addition of flours like all purpose or ground nuts. Some others contain only cream in place of the whites. Some recipes have a garnish to them, like chopped nuts, grated zests or chopped citron. While tuile cookies are generally made with the above ingredients, and using just about any flavor like chocolate (cocoa), citrus zests, or chopped or sliced nuts to flavor and complement, some cooks classify lace cookies in the tuile category since they are flat, fragile, and can be molded when hot into the traditional curved shape. Read each tuile recipe procedure before beginning, as some require a template to smooth the batter into shape, and some use a pastry bag to pipe or a spoon to spread and the result is a round shape to be formed into a curve.

While the traditional shape is popular as petit fours, you can find tuiles not only flat, but in any shape you can imagine for all applications for pastry plate and buffet design. Using a tuile template any shape can be found and used, or make a cut-out of your own design onto thin plastic (the lids of industrial sized ingredients like trimoline, glucose or apricot glazes are good for larger designs, yogurt and sour cream for smaller ones: draw desired shape and cut-out carefully with a utility knife). Tuile doughs are especially fragile and baking them on a silicone baking mat (Silpat for example) will help remove them effortlessly when finished baking. To use any template, place an amount of the batter onto the design and using an offset spatula, spread the batter onto the design. Continue with the rest of the templates if in a sheet, or if single, lift off and the resulting batter on the baking sheet is the shape.

Template Sheet	Templates cut from scraps of plastic	Resulting batter from template	Templates can be found in aluminum or stainless steel

Tuile and Related Cookie Info:

• If you see a recipe with 'dentelle' in the name of a tuile cookie, it simply means 'lace' in French and the resulting tuile cookie will probably spread to form a slightly open lace-work pattern, thus the name.
• Fortune cookies are a tuile made from a batter and formed while hot, giving their unique folded shape.
• Cigarette cookies are thin cookies baked into a round shape (round templates are helpful with these) and rolled around a thin wooden stick while they are warm and set up that way.
• Wafer cookies are thin cookies whose batter can be used in a template.
• Lace cookies are simple cookies that spread during baking to a very thin height with a slight lace-work pattern, and when removed from the oven can be shaped to any surface. These are very fragile.
• Snaps or Glass cookies are very thin, almost transparent cookies, that can also be shaped when pulled from the oven. Take care with some of the very thin cookies as some may need to set for several seconds to 'set up' or they can be pulled and distorted out of shape, and some cookies will harden almost immediately when pulled from the oven.
• Tulipe batter (French for 'tulip') or tulip paste is sometimes coined for cigarette or similar batter when used for making 'tulips' or baskets for plated desserts, which are molded over or inside of timbales, small bowls or similar molds when warm.
• Hippenmasse or Hippen paste is a German thin wafer cookie similar to a plain tuile or tulip paste, where you pipe out the batter in designs or spread the batter over a template and bake and form as required.

With all recipes, always test a few to see how they can be molded and how much time you'll have to work with to mold them. Also, if you baked too many on the sheet pan to mold and some cookies are hard before you get to mold them, simply place the pan back into the oven for several seconds to warm up, then form as usual.

	Depending on size of dowel, different sizes of cigarettes can be made.
Virtually any template can be used for making a basket or pastry cup. What you use to mold them with will help determine the finished size.

Below are several tuile cookie and other thin cookie recipes, each with different ingredients. When recipes call for 'melted butter,' for testing purposes we used only clarified unsalted butter and for 'flour' we used all purpose flour. All dry ingredients should be sifted to filter out any lumps in the powdered sugar, flours, cocoa or ground nuts. Egg whites are large, and should be at room temperature when mixing into the batter. If making a very large batch and the egg whites are cold, it may set up the melted butter causing flecks or a very stiff mixture. It's best to have all ingredients the same temperature. Simply warming slightly in a bain marie should fix the problem. If the mix will be made ahead, some batters (like a cigarette batter or plain mix, for example) can be allowed to come to room temperature before spreading onto templates for baking. Others using beaten eggs should be used immediately after mixing. Recipes requiring a pastry bag for piping should be used all at once, also.

Unless otherwise noted, recipes came from my recipe box at home or work files or past 'experiments,' or adapted years ago from various recipes. Sources to all the other recipes are included and listed, as usual, in the bibliography at the bottom.

Cigarette Batter (Pâte à Cigarette)
Use this batter for all types of stencils. This recipe can be easily scaled up or down. Right below this is the industry version of the recipe. The first is one I scaled down for my home use. Perfect for making baskets, cigarettes, and multi-colored designs for plated work. Simply take a small amount and color as desired and pipe onto the spread cookie before baking. Sets up great, and can be kept airtight for several days.

2 1/2 oz. powdered sugar
1 1/2 oz. flour
2 egg whites
1 1/4 oz. clarified unsalted butter

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6 minutes or until browned as desired and mold into shape.
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Cigarette Batter (Pâte à Cigarette) Industry Version
Same as the recipe above, but scaled up for use. Can be made ahead easily and used for many applications for plated and buffet work.

2 lbs. 6 oz. powdered sugar
1 lb. 5 oz. flour
1 qt. egg whites (use fresh, not boxed pasteurized)
1 lb. 3 oz. clarified unsalted butter

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6-7 minutes or until browned as desired and mold into shape.

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Lemon Cigarettes (Cigarettes au Citron)
Using very finely chopped candied lemon peel, these have a great lemon flavor. After baking and cooling, dip the ends in melted white chocolate or fill as suggested with lemon flavored buttercream using a small pastry tip. This recipe is adapted from "Larousse Gastronomique," publish date 1988.

4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
3 1/2 oz. flour
5 1/2 oz. superfine granulated sugar rubbed with 1/4 vanilla bean, halved
4 oz. clarified unsalted butter
4 oz. very finely chopped candied lemon peel

Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk egg whites and a pinch of salt to stiff peaks. In separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar and butter together. Fold in the whites, then last the finely chopped candied peel. On a silicone baking mat lined baking sheet, spread mixture into thin circles about 3 inches in diameter. Bake for about 7-10 minutes or until the tuiles are golden brown as desired. Remove from oven and while warm, roll each around a thin wooden dowel or a wooden spoon, remove and set to cool and repeat with remaining baked tuiles. Repeat with remaining batter until all of it is used.

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Milk Tuiles
I'm not sure where I got this recipe from (it's written down on a recipe card at home), but these simple tuiles bake up brittle and brown deeply quickly. They will need to be set up immediately from the oven. I've also tried this out with canned evaporated milk in place of the cream, but the flavor is better when the cream is used.

3 oz. powdered sugar
4 oz. flour
1 1/2 oz. cream
3 oz. milk

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 375° for about 6-7 minutes, or until browned as desired and mold into shape.

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Tulip Paste
This recipe uses softened butter rather than melted.

100 g softened unsalted butter
100 g powdered sugar
100 g egg whites
75 g flour

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 375° for about 6-7 minutes, or until browned as desired and mold into shape.

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Wafer Batter
Containing equal parts by weight of egg whites, granulated sugar, melted butter and flour, this is an easy recipe and can be scaled up easily. Great for any application, and bakes to a good flavor.

2 oz. egg whites
2 oz. granulated sugar
2 oz. clarified unsalted butter
2 oz. flour

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6-7 minutes or until browned as desired and mold into shape. Allow to cool and serve.

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Hippenmasse
This recipe contains marzipan, and is adapted from the site "Chefkoch.de."

180 g sugar
50 g marzipan or fine almond paste
150 g flour
3 large eggs
5 cl cream, or as needed to combine into desired paste
pinch salt

Soften sugar and marzipan. Add in flour and eggs, mixing in cream together to form a smooth batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6-7 minutes or until browned as desired and mold into shape. Allow to cool and serve.

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Fortune Cookies
This is an old recipe and uses cornstarch and vegetable oil in the batter.

1 1/4 oz. cake flour
1 oz. granulated sugar
1/2 oz. cornstarch
1 oz. vegetable oil
1 large egg white
1/2 oz. water

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Using desired round templates, or using a spoon spread thinly into a circle onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6-8 minutes or until browned as desired and mold into shape: first fold in half with the desired scrap of paper with a saying, then fold in half again over the lip of a bowl or baking dish. Allow to cool and serve.

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Hazelnut Tiles (Tuiles aux Noisettes)
This recipe is adapted from "The French Cookie Book," and uses chopped hazelnuts. This batter requires a pastry bag and larger round tip for piping. Although the recipe calls for hazelnuts, this recipe was tested with chopped pecans with great success.

3 1/2 oz. finely chopped hazelnuts
3 1/2 oz. superfine granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temp
1 large egg white, room temp
1 1/4 oz. flour
1/2 oz. clarified unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix chopped hazelnuts and sugar in bowl and add in the eggs. Sift flour over the top of the batter and mix in; last the butter. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with a medium or larger round tip (804-808, depending on your piping skill and the size of the nuts) and pipe the batter to about 2 1/2 teaspoon sized rounds about 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Flatten each tuile batter mound with a fork dipped in water and bake 8-10 minutes until the cookies are browned on the edges. Remove the tuiles from the sheet pan to shape and cool. Repeat with remaining batter. It is helpful to have several sheet pans ready at the beginning so as to pipe all the cookies out at the same time.

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Tuiles
Adapted from "The New Cookie Book," this basic tuile can be flavored as desired depending on the garnish sprinkled on the cookie mounds before baking. Sliced almonds or chopped hazelnuts or pistachios could be used, for example.

1 large egg white
2 oz. superfine granulated sugar
1 oz. clarified unsalted butter
1 oz. flour, sifted
Garnish, if desired.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk the egg white to stiff peaks. Add in the sugar until glossy (will resemble a meringue). Fold in 1/3 of the melted butter with 1/3 of the flour. Mix until incorporated, then repeat with the rest of the butter and flour. Spoon small mounds onto parchment or silicone baking sheet lined baking sheets. Spread out slightly with the back of fork or fingertips dipped in water. Sprinkle with garnish if using, then bake 6-7 minutes until golden around the edges. Leave to cool for a few seconds on the sheet pan before removing to shape. Repeat with remaining batter until all of it is used.

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Chocolate Cigarette Batter
Depending on the color of the cocoa powder being used, the batter and resulting cookies will either be light brown to rich black. When the batter is darker, test one out first and mark down the times for the rest of the baking, as you won't be able to tell when the tuiles are over cooking when the batter is already dark.

3 oz. clarified unsalted butter
3 oz. powdered sugar
3 oz. egg whites
2 1/2 oz. flour
1 oz. cocoa powder.

Mix together to form a smooth batter. Can be made ahead. Allow to come to room temperature or warm slightly before spreading batter. Using desired templates, spread onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 6-7 minutes or until browned and cooked as desired and mold into shape.

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References used:

Atkinson, Catherine. The New Cookie Book: more than 150 great cookie, biscuit, bar and brownie recipes.
     London: Hermes, 2003.

Dubois, Marguerite-Marie. Larousse's French-English English-French Dictionary. Revised ed. New York: Pocket, 1971.

Healy, Bruce. The French Cookie Book. New York: William, 1994.

Herbst, Sharon Tyler. Food Lover's Companion. Third Edition. Hauppauge: Barron's, 2001.

Lang, Jenifer Harvey, ed. Larousse Gastronomique: The New American Edition of the World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia. New York: Crown, 1988.

Neufeldt, Victoria, ed. Webster's New World College Dictionary. Third Edition. New York: Macmillan, 1997.

Recipes from the files of Renee Shelton.

Chefkoch.de: Hippenmasse. "Rezept: Hippenmasse." Site accessed 7 January 2007.
     <http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/220701091630828/Hippenmasse.html>

Copyright © 2008 Renee Shelton.
All rights reserved.