My grandmother that I called Mamy was an accomplished baker and pastry maker. She loved to cook and bake and I love to go and visit her because there would always be some great food there. When we would come to visit, she would make tuiles, macarons, crepes, gaufres. She often was the one who helped my mom make our birthday cake: Un Mocha ( double layer cake with coffee buttercream..Yum!!!)

Unlike my mom, was grandmother was not as concerned of her weight. In fact, her motto was; ” Use butter and cream, it is better for you”.

I think that the reason that she always had butter, or chocolate in her house was because of the war. She had starved so much in the working camp of germany and now she was free, she was going to enjoy her life and food;-) I certainly admire her for that!!!

Growing up, I was happy to bake with her, but never thought to gather her recipes… You just don’t think about that when you grow up. Now I wish I had them… though I am not sure I would have been able to read them as she may have written them in Russian , as it was her nationality.

The reason why I talk about her today is because I wanted to make Tuiles last night. For those of you who may not know what Tuiles are, it is a French biscuit that is often served to decorate or even to serve desserts. It is called Tuiles because this delicate paper thin cookie is shaped into a U and looks like the tiles that are on French roof.

I did not have a recipe for Tuiles, and of course at that point I wished I had my grandma because her tuiles were always perfect and so yummy. So I searched for a good recipe. There are millions of recipes out there and I will tell you that i was a bit at a loss trying the find the right one. Well after trying a few, tweeking a few things here and there and staying up till 2 am to find the right one, here is my recipe. It is not my grandma’s recipe, but it is pretty good;-)

Ingredients to make about 2 dozens tuiles:

• 2 egg whites at room temperature
• 100 gr. or about 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp of white sugar
• 50 gr. or about 3 tbsp of almonds sliced
• 35 gr. or about 2 1/2 tbsp of butter melted but cool to touch.
• 35 gr. or about 2 1/2 tbsp of flour
• 1/2 tsp of of almond flavor
• Turn the oven to 330.

1. Place the butter in a microwavable bowl and cook for 30 seconds or until the butter is completly melted. Let it cool.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg whites and the sugar until the sugar is completly dissolved, and the egg whites get a bit foamy.
3. Add the butter, the flour and the almond flavor and stir well.
4. Place a large silpat on a large perforated sheet.
5. Drop 1 tablespoon of the mixture on the silpat and with the back of the tablespoon spread the mixture out to make a circle of about 2 to 2 1/2 inches.
6. Repeat to make about 8 circles per silpat. Do not make more than 8 per batch or the tuiles will cool off and you will not have time to shape them all if you make them too many
7. Sprinkle a few almond slices per tuiles for decoration.
8. Cook for 8 minutes or until the edges of the circles are becoming brown.
9. Remove the perforated sheet from the oven. Wait a few seconds to let the tuiles cool a bit or they will tear as you lift them. Do not wait more than a few seconds or they will cool too much and you will not be able to shape them.
10. With the tip of a kitchen knife ( not sharp, You do not want to perfore the silpat), lift the side of the circle and pull it up carefully.
11. Place the circle on the rolling pin to make the tuile. Let it cool completly before lifting them from the rolling pin.
12. Repeat steps 5-10 until you have used the whole batter.
13. Keep the tuiles in a airtight container to keep them dry and crunchy. Yum!!!
14. Serve them as a treat with coffee or to decorate your desserts.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!