Black and White Sesame Tuile

Black and white sesame tuile on top of coconut ice cream | photo by Zoë François

Last summer Graham and I went to NYC to eat, take in a few museums, visit with cousins and eat some more. Graham’s cousin Riad is the executive chef at Pastis and Balthazar (and the author of the The Balthazar Cookbook).  It goes without saying that Riad is an amazing culinary guide. I’ve never eaten so well and so much in my entire life!

After a 12-course meal at Devi (you must eat Suvir Saran’s food at least once in your life), Riad took us to meet Johnny Iuzzini, the extraordinary pastry chef at Jean Georges. They worked together at Daniel and Riad wanted to show off Johnny’s talents. We arrived at 11pm and Johnny marched through the dining room carrying 24 desserts. Twenty Four exquisitely plated desserts, plus truffles and other small delicacies he whipped up. They were absolutely gorgeous, so despite the 12 courses we had just consumed, we tasted them all! The perfect evening.

For this month’s Daring Baker Challenge I made White and Black Sesame Tuile perched on Coconut Ice Cream, all inspired by recipes from Johnny’s new book Dessert FourPlay.

White and Black Sesame Tuile

from Dessert FourPlay

1/3 cup fondant (Johnny has you use Ateco Fondant Mix. Because I made this at the last minute I didn’t have time to order it and made my own, recipe to follow.)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Scant 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons white and/or black sesame seeds (you can find black sesame seeds at Asian markets. In Johnny’s recipe he calls for flax seeds which sound like a fantastic flavor, but again I was without and I thought the sesame went with the coconut ice cream.)

Special equipment you will need, including what you will want if you make your own fondant:

Silpat, Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat

Spice/Coffee Grinder

Offset Spatula

Candy Thermometer

Food Processor

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Put the fondant, corn syrup and butter together in a small saucepan over medium heat.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and cook until it is all melted and starts to turn a VERY pale caramel color. VERY LIGHT or your tuile will not be clear in the end! This will take about 10-12 minutes.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Pour the mixture out onto a silpat.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Spread it thin with an Offset Spatula so that it will cool faster. Cool for about 15 minutes, until hard.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Break into small shards. Store in an airtight container or bag.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

When you are ready to make your tuile, Preheat your oven to 375°. Take a  small amount of the shards and place them in your grinder.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

pulverize them into a very fine powder.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Use a sieve to spread the powder over the clean silpat. Make sure the powder is in a fairly thick layer.  If it is too thin it will just bead up on the silpat and you will not get a solid piece of tuile.

How to make black and white sesame tuile

Sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly over the powder. Bake in the middle of your oven for about 3-5 minutes. Do not let the tuile color. Remove from oven and cool completely. Break the tuile into desired shapes and sizes.

Black and White Sesame Tuile perched on coconut ice cream | Photo by Zoë François

To make poured Fondant for the tuile recipe, from The Cake Bible:

2 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Have your food processor sitting near to the stove fitted with the steel blade.

How to make poured Fondant for the tuile recipe

In a medium size, heavy bottom saucepan combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Whisk gently together until the mixture starts to boil.

How to make poured Fondant for the tuile recipe

Place the candy thermometer on the side of the pot and continue to cook until the sugar reaches soft-ball stage (238°). Immediately pour it into the food processor. Wash the candy thermometer very well!

How to make poured Fondant for the tuile recipe

Place the candy thermometer back into the hot syrup. If your thermometer isn’t clean you will get crystallization. Allow to cool, uncovered, until the syrup reaches exactly 140°. This will take about 25-35 minutes.

Once it has reached this temperature add your vanilla and process for 2-3 minutes or until fondant becomes white and opaque.

How to make poured Fondant for the tuile recipe

Set a plastic bag inside of a measuring cup. Empty the fondant into the bag. Leave the bag open until the fondant is perfectly cool.  When cool, seal the bag and allow to sit for 24 hours at room temperature.

After the 24 hours you can use the fondant in the tuile recipe or for poured fondant to cover petit fours and other pastries. To do that you will need to heat and thin the fondant. I will do that another day! 😉

This month’s Daring Baker challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Here are some tuile cups I made with the Michel Roux Chocolate Tuiles.

Chocolate tuile cups

Preheat the oven to 375° and spread the batter as thinly as you can, but make sure the entire Flexible Bakeware Hemispheres molds is covered. If the tuile batter is too thick it will just run down to the bottom. If this happens, take a spoon and scoop out the excess and continue baking until the bottom is set, about 5-8 minutes.

While the tuile batter is still slightly warm, gently ease out of the mold. Mine just popped right out after I loosened the top.

Chocolate tuile cups with coconut ice cream and chocolate spirals

For the spiral I just used a stencil and then wrapped the tuile around a wooden spoon handle.

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54 thoughts to “Black and White Sesame Tuile”

  1. 24 desserts! Wow. Heaven, right there! 🙂 Great tuile by the way. I’ve only just gotten that book and haven’t had a chance to delve into it yet.

  2. Wow— those look amazing! I am so impressed with your ability to pull off what looks so difficult. The pictorial instructions insure that we may also, by some miracle, be able to pull it off also! Thank you for taking the time to help us all become better in the kitchen! Your Tuiles look wonderful!

  3. Hi Zoe — That tulle is so cool. I’m wondering about the coconut ice cream, though. Did you make that too? We love coconut so I’d love to know your recipe if you did whip that up also!

  4. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. There are two kinds of shiso both with very a distinct flavor. Green is the more common type to find fresh, but if you can find it red shiso has a more floral fragrance.

    Your Tuile looks amazing, very classy with the black and white motif. Also wanted to tell you that I just got your book from Amazon on yesterday and I’m liking it so far. Have a batch of dough in the fridge and am planning on baking my first boule tomorrow:-)

  5. Wow your tuiles are amazing! The sesame ones look a bit like snowflakes. So delicate! Great job on the challenge, I’m totally impressed!!

  6. Not only is Johnny SUPER sexy … you got to meet this incredibly talented man! YOU are one lucky woman!!! I love your ghosty tuile – very chic! Great combination & I am mildly jealous …. I would love to meet him next time I am in NY! 😉

  7. Those tuiles are off the charts! I copied and pasted the recipe so I can give them a shot. Both of your desserts look gorgeous, and the chance to meet and learn from Johnny Iuzzini is also off the charts! One of my fav pastry chefs, and not because he’s cute..lol

  8. Oh wow! When I saw your tuiles in Tastespotting, I had to drop by your blog to say that it looks fantastic. Totally unexpected shape and simply beautiful.

  9. WOW!!! What a beautiful dessert. It’s truly a shame i cannot participate in it. (I’m allergic to coconut – boooohoooohooooo!!!). it’s still beautiful to look at 😉

  10. I can’t even find words to describe how much I adore your tuiles… Absolutely gorgeous, and completely flawless. I wish I had even half of your pastry talent!

  11. Can we name drop to him the next time we are in NY and see if he’ll run down 24 desserts for my gf and I? :-þ. Whenever we go to NYC (at least once a year), I try to find either a well established or up and coming great restaurant.. sadly though Jean Gorges and even Mr. Boulud’s restaurants break the bank for us and we aren’t in a situation where we can dress for it. On another note, any suggestions from your culinary tour of places to definitely try?

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