Ooh....la....la.... I have just returned from a few beautiful days in Paris, and as I love anything French, I thought I would make these crisp wafer thin Almond Tuiles to serve with my Lemon Curd Mascarpone Mousse. The word "tuiles", French for "tile" is derived from their traditional curved shape similar to that of roof tiles in France.
Tuiles are traditionally made with normal flour, but as a gluten-free option I made these from almond flour, giving them such a beautiful refined nutty taste. The batter, consisting of egg white, sugar, flour, butter and vanilla essence is spread into thin circles on a baking sheet, topped with thin slithered almonds and baked until just golden brown. While the cookies are still hot and pliable, they are laid over a rolling pin to give them their classic curved shape.
Almond flour
Almond flour is not to be confused with almond meal, which contains whole, ground almonds that still have the skin on whereas Almond flour is made from blanched almonds. It is available at most stores, but it is simple and cheaper to grind your own at home from natural almonds in either a coffee grinder or high speed blender. Apart from nut flours being gluten-free they are high in protein and low in carbohydrates, and they are a great source of essential fatty acids and omegas - good for brain and heart health.
Substituting almond flour in recipes
Its easy to convert any recipe to a low carb, gluten free one by substituting nut flours. Replace the volume of wheat flour with the same volume of nut flour, and if a raising agent is required, then I suggest you add slightly more to allow for the heavier weight of the nut flour.
Next week I will be incorporating these delicate wafer thin tuiles in my Lemon curd Marscapone Mousse. Make sure you check in to get that recipe. ... its beyond delicious.
Gluten Free Almond Tuiles
