Cookie Tumbleweeds
Preparation info
Difficulty
Easy
Yield: approximately
20
decorations
Appears in
The Professional Pastry Chef
By Bo Friberg
Published 1989
These are easy to make and can be used to add a contemporary look to many desserts. Adding the extra butter to the tuile paste makes the decorations a bit thinner and more elegant-looking. Pipe the lines thin and not too close together so that the loops and circles do not bake together in the oven; the paste will flow out slightly during baking.
Ingredients
1 ounce 30 g ½ recipe
Method
- Place a sheet of plastic wrap over an empty cardboard egg carton to create a place in which to store the fragile decorations. If you do not have Silpats, grease the backs of inverted sheet pans, coat with flour and shake off as much flour as possible.
- Stir the melted butter into the tuile paste. Place a portion of the mixture into a paper pastry bag and cut a small opening.
To make each tumbleweed, pipe the mixture out onto a Silpat; make overlapping small loops and circles, starting from the center and piping in an unbroken line moving outward, until you have gradually formed a lacy decoration approximately 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter (Figure 13-9; the illustration is much smaller than the actual decoration). There should be approximately as much uncovered space as there is tuile paste. Place 4 tumbleweeds per sheet pan.
- Bake at 400°F(205°C) until golden brown spots appear on 1 cookie, about 4 minutes. Leave the pan in the oven with the door open.
- Using a palette knife, pick up the cookie with the most brown color and quickly gather it into a loose ball in your hands to form a tumbleweed. Place in the plastic-covered egg carton. Quickly repeat with the remaining cookies on the pan.
- Pipe, bake, and form the remaining cookies in the same way. Store in airtight containers so the decorations remain crisp.
© 1989 All rights reserved. Published by Wiley.