Ooh….la….la…. I have just returned from a few beautiful days in Paris, and as I love anything French, I thought I would make these crisp wafer thin Almond Tuiles to serve with my Lemon Curd Mascarpone Mousse. The word “tuiles”, French for “tile” is derived from their traditional curved shape similar to that of roof tiles in France.
Tuiles
Tuiles are traditionally made with normal flour, but as a gluten-free option I made these from almond flour, giving them such a beautiful refined nutty taste. The batter, consisting of egg white, sugar, flour, butter and vanilla essence is spread into thin circles on a baking sheet, topped with thin slithered almonds and baked until just golden brown. While the cookies are still hot and pliable, they are laid over a rolling pin to give them their classic curved shape.
Almond flour
Almond flour is not to be confused with almond meal, which contains whole, ground almonds that still have the skin on whereas Almond flour is made from blanched almonds. It is available at most stores, but it is simple and cheaper to grind your own at home from natural almonds in either a coffee grinder or high speed blender. Apart from nut flours being gluten-free they are high in protein and low in carbohydrates, and they are a great source of essential fatty acids and omegas – good for brain and heart health.
Substituting almond flour in recipes
Its easy to convert any recipe to a low carb, gluten free one by substituting nut flours. Replace the volume of wheat flour with the same volume of nut flour, and if a raising agent is required, then I suggest you add slightly more to allow for the heavier weight of the nut flour.
Next week I will be incorporating these delicate wafer thin tuiles in my Lemon curd Marscapone Mousse. Make sure you check in to get that recipe. … its beyond delicious.
- 1 egg white
- ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar
- 4 tablespoons almond flour (ground almonds)
- 30 g butter , melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
- flaked almonds
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Preheat the oven to 360ºF (180°C).
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Line 2 oven trays with baking paper or silicone sheets.
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Beat egg white in a small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat after each addition.
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Fold in the sieved almond flour,( use the back of the spoon on the sieve to get the almond flour as fine as possible. Then add the butter and vanilla essence.
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Using the back of a spoon, spread 1 teaspoonful of mixture into circles, about 3cm apart, on prepared trays. I like to do 6 on each tray. Sprinkle the mixture lightly with the almonds. Bake one tray at a time, in a moderate oven, for about 5 minutes or until browned lightly around edges.
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The tuiles will be soft when they come out of the oven, so lift them quickly and carefully with a spatula, and place them immediately over a rolling pin to get the curved "tuile" shape. They cool very quickly .
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Continue the same way with the remaining mixture. This makes 18 tuiles .
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When cooled, transfer to an airtight container.
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This are not suitable for freezing .
21 Comments
Oh so French and what beautiful pictures.
Thank you Shareen – Paris inspires as usual
I see you only use a few tablespoons of almond flour. Why so little? Your pictures are gorgeous by the way
Hi Clair, Yes only a little flour is needed in this recipe and is added to the whisked egg whites and sugar. They are light and crispy this way.
I am very keen to try these – I love tuiles served with a strong expresso
I have to have a rolling pin like that. Please where is it from
Hello Sharon – Isnt it the most beautiful thing – I bought it from Zazia Kozerska from Poland, who personalizes them and now sells them on her etsy store https://www.etsy.com/shop/ValekRollingPins
Cant wait to Taste !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The tuiles look simply delicious. Cant wait to try them. You are such a well travelled lady, Ev.
Susee we miss you so much, its birthday time again next month so if you are in Durban please let me know. Tea at the Oyster Box!!!!
Welcome back from paradise! Love this delicious gluten free version. Tuiles aux amandes sans gluten! So appetizing. Gorgeous styling. Thanks so much for this recipe, Ev.
Thank you Elizabath, there is no city quite like Paris. Even in the pouring rain it has such charm and glamour, and it gave me an excuse to buy a beautiful French umbrella.
I totally agree with you. No city like Paris. I love your pictures and the rolling pin, Oh my, how cute is that! Thanks for sharing Ev..
Thanks so much Ratna , looking forward to your next post
Here comes Ev with another one of her gorgeous props, I love that rolling pin 😉 What a sophisticated recipe and beautiful photographs.
Georgina you are a doll, thanks for the lovely comments
May I know if I should use roasted or raw almond flakes? Thanks
Hi Connie – I use raw almond flakes because they roast when in the oven on the tuile. If you use already roasted ones they may become too toasted and brown. Hope that helps
Hi,
Have you ever exchanged normal sugar with erythritol or monk fruit?
Thank you.
Tried this recipe and it didn’t work. They came out soft (long after they’d cooled), overly sweet with no real almond flavor and sticking to the parchment paper. I turned off the oven and left them in there. Maybe they’ll be better later.
Hi Denise I am so sorry to hear that. There is nothing worse than spending time and effort on a recipe and it doesn’t work out how you expect it too. The tuiles should be soft and pliable when they come out the oven and then once cooled they become crisp. They need to be paper thin for best results.
You can always substitute the vanilla essence with almond essence for a stronger flavour, and although there is only 1/4cup of sugar you could use slightly less if you preferred.