This was circa 1995 I think, and the blurry photo above was taken with a film camera in our sunny kitchen in San Francisco.As soon as I saw the chef on the series Cooking Secrets of the CIA making Chocolate Tea Cups with Tuile Spoons I NEW I had to make them.
What you do is melt chocolate, dip in a 3/4 blown balloon - water balloon size - and then let the chocolate harden. Once it does, you poke the balloon with a pin right near the knot and let the air slowly come out. Voila! You've got a chocolate cup. Pipe a "C"-shaped handle and attach it with melted chocolate.
Sounds easy right? It is... until....
Until you have a balloon with a weak spot or chocolate with a hot spot or a deadly combination of the two.
As my husband describes it, "There she was in the kitchen, happy as a clam dipping her balloons. I leave the room for a sec and hear a loud, 'Oh !@#$%^&*!!!!!!'. I go back into the kitchen and it looks like a chocolate crime scene."
Yes, one of my balloons POPPED a couple of inches above the bowl. It looked like a crazy person had splattered chocolate all over the place. I was cleaning chocolate for months and months. It was under the chairs, behind the shelves, on top of the fridge....
But isn't the cup the cutest thing???? I filled it with coffee mouse and topped that with whipped cream and a Tuile Spoon to our friends Beth and Scott - who not only got a yummy dessert, but a funny story.
Tuile means "tile" in French, and is a classic, old-fashioned cookie. The traditional shapes are usually a shaped oval (almost like a Pringle) or rolled into a "cigarette." It's fun to play around with different shapes.
Makes about 24
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6 tablespoons unsalted butter
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3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
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1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
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whites of 3 eggs
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
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In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Gradually beat in the egg white, then fold in the flour until you have a smooth paste. Chill for about 2 hours.
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Place small spoonfuls of the mixture about 4 inches apart on a nonstick baking sheet, then spread these out into rounds with a spatula.
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Bake for about 4 minutes until the mixture is just beginning to color (keep checking).
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Remove from the oven and leave to cool very slightly until you can handle them. Shape the rounds by draping them over the length of a rolling pin or as described below. Leave until completely cool and set, then lift off gently. you can keep the tuiles in an airtight container for up to a week.
Other Shapes:
Baskets
Depending on the size you want, drape your warm rounds of baked tuile over the top of a clean bottle or gently press them inside a tea or custard cup and leave until cool.
Stencils
Take a piece of clean cardboard and cut out the shapes you want: say, flowers or leaves. Lay the cardboard stencil on your baking sheet and spread the mixture over the top. Lift off the cardboard carefully before baking.
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