A tuile () is a baked

wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

, French in origin, generally arced in shape, that is made most often from dough (but also possibly from cheese), often served as an accompaniment of other dishes. ''Tuile'' is the French word for

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

, after the shape of

roof tiles Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as terracotta or slate. Modern materials such as concrete, metal and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof ...

that the arced baked good most often resembles. Tuiles are commonly added as garnishes to desserts such as

panna cotta Panna cotta (Italian for "cooked cream") is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. History The name ''panna cotta'' is not mentioned in Ita ...

or used as edible cups for

sorbet Sorbet (), also called "water ice", is a frozen dessert made using ice combined with fruit juice, fruit purée, wine, liqueur, honey, etc. Generally sorbets do not contain dairy ingredients, while sherbets do. Etymology The word "sorbet" en ...

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

Preparation

Tuiles are thin cookies named for and curved like the ''tuiles'', or tiles, that line the rooftops of French country homes, particularly those in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. To get a curved shape, tuiles are usually made on a curved surface, such as a wine bottle or

rolling pin Rolling is a type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an axially symmetric object) and translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the other moves), such that, if ideal conditions exist, the two are in contact ...

. In France, tuile molds are also sold. Tuiles must be curved while hot; otherwise, they will crack and break.Luchetti, Emily, and Sheri Giblin. ''Classic Stars Desserts: Favorite Recipes by Emily Luchetti''. Chronicle Books Llc, 2007. 129. Print. Tuiles can also be left flat after baking. The traditional tuile batter consists of flour,

white sugar White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process. Description The refining process completely removes ...

, melted

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

, and almonds. Modern variants include a wide variety of bases and flavours (see gallery).

Gallery

File:Fois gras with tuile (7074475925).jpg, A simple bread tuile served with

foie gras Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding). Foie gras is a popular and well-known delica ...

. File:French toast with bacon ice cream.jpg, A cinnamon tuile over French toast and bacon ice cream. File:Ginger Panna Cotta with Honey Tuiles.jpg, A honey tuile over cups containing a sweetened cream, ginger

References

External links

* Almond cookies Cookies French pastries {{France-dessert-stub