Know Your Numbers

I made these adorable tuiles for a cake to celebrate a great guy who is going to school to become a teacher. Part of his course requirements was to work in a third grade class, which is were you learn the multiplication table. Every time I think about the multiplication table, which in Italian we call it the Pythagoras table, I think about one of my oldest friends, Anna B. In elementary school Anna had the misfortune of having a teacher who didn't believe in getting the kids to memorize the multiplication table so she never learned it. By the time we became best friends in middle school, she hated math, mainly because she was handicapped by the numbers she didn't know how to multiply. I felt really bad for her, especially because I loved math and couldn't make her love it too. According to Wikipedia, Pythagoras and his students believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality and, through mathematics, everything could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. Not bad for someone who lived around 500 B.C.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes cookbooks and it works so beautifully. I have not one but two copies of this book, and not because I am a cookbook junkie, but because a great friend send it to me as a gift not knowing that I already had it.

The trick is to have two tuile batters, a plain one and a chocolate one. The desired shape is first stenciled with the plain batter and then a message is written with the chocolate batter. When the tuiles bake, the two batters melt together and they look awesome. Imagine the possibilities!

Tuile Banners
adapted from MS Wedding Cakes

White tuile batter
5 tablespoons of butter, melted
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoon of heavy cream

Beat the egg whites and the sugar on medium until combined, 30 seconds. Add the flour and the salt, and mix well. Add the melted butter and the cream and beat until combined. Refrigerate until chilled, 15 minutes.

Chocolate batter
2 1/2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cocoa powder
2 tablespoon of heavy cream

Beat the egg whites and the sugar on medium until combined, 30 seconds. Add the flour and the cocoa powder, mix well. Add the melted butter and the cream and beat until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a fine-holed round tip (#1 or #2). Set aside.

Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Line a baking pan with a Silpat. Cut the desired shape out of a plastic lid. Using a small offset spatula spread the chilled bater inside the stencil, on the Silpat. Pipe the desired words with the chocolate batter directly onto the stenciled shapes. Bake at 350F until just set and the edges begin to brown. Remove when still warm and let cool. Store in a airtight containers.