Almond-Orange Tuiles #French Fridays with Dorie

Almond-Orange Tuiles w/ Vanilla Ice Cream and Maple Carmel Sauce Truffles

Tuiles is the French word for tile, and these cookies are shaped to look like the curved rooftop tiles that span the Mediterranean's country and sea side.

Curved Roof Tiles of the Mediterranean

Clay tiles can be seen for miles because of the lack of tall buildings. Sitting in a hilltop cafe you can gaze for hours over the terra-cotta horizon and be transported to the 1800's when some of these villas were built.

Similar tiles in Italy. I took this in Florence.

These cookies transported me not just to found memories of the French seaside, but to fine restaurants that I have dined in over the years. In fancy restaurants desserts are often flourish with a tuile cookie. I never knew what they were called, but I have eaten them many times and marveled at their fragile beauty.

Almond orange tuiles: Simple living and eating

I felt a desire to serve this cookie how I often remember eating it, accompanied by ice cream. I made a special dessert for my family of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Maple Carmel Sauce, an Almond-Orange Tuile Cookie and some Truffles. After eating this we felt like we had just dined in an elegant French restaurant without having left our house.

Now the shape of this cookies might look intimidating but they were only a little tricky to make. Dorie's recipe called for crushed almonds, but I used almond flour. It is mixed with regular flour and orange juice to give it a hint of orange flavor that still allows for the almond taste to come through. I refrigerated the dough over night, and put it back in the fridge between batches to keep this very wet dough pliable.

I also baked them at 350 degrees, hotter than the recipe called for, turning them at 5 minutes and baking them for a total of 10 minutes.

First you shape the dough into little balls giving them lots of space to spread.

This is what they look liked cooked. You can leave them flat.

almond orange tuiles shaping on rolling pin

Once they stop bubbling you scrap them off of the cookie sheet with a metal spatula and lay them on a rolling pin or wine bottle to cool into the tile shape.

It is a little bit of work to make these cookies, but after a batch or two you really start to get a sense of how and when to move them to the rolling pin for shaping. The result is a truly gorgeous looking cookie that can add pizzazz to any dessert you are serving.. plus they really, really taste good. There is a bit of a crunch when you first bit into them; then the cookie becomes chewy as your mouth melts into the buttery almond orange flavor… scrumptious.

Dorie's recipe is only available in her book: Around My French Table which you must put on your holiday gift list. Click below for a recipe, but if you want the real deal…seriously get this cookbook.

Almond-Orange Tuile Cookie Recipe

You are invited to join my new linky party. Cook a recipe of your choice from the chosen country and explore the world with us. Dec 10th we will be sharing dishes from Germany.

Add your email to our list and I will remind you a week before the party and on the day of the party so you won't forget to link up.

Note: As a member of French Friday's with Dorie I am not allowed to print the recipe. I invite you to take a look at this wonderful cookbook "Around My French Table" if you are interested in this or any other recipe I review.