“Be inspired to create masterpieces from
your own kitchen”. |
Pailleté FeutillineWhat is a pailleté feuilletine, you ask? Pailleté Feuilletine, is derived from the French word, feuille, which simply means leaf. When you picture a leaf, you’ll notice that it is thin and flat.
The word feuilletine itself, is describing its own characteristic, thinness and flatness. I consider the feuilletine a very close relative of the tuile,
another famous French wafer , who's meaning is 'tile', also a French word. |
Store your feutilline in covered containers.
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The feuilletine is a thin, crispy wafer, that provides balanced crunchy texture when used as an additional layer in creamy desserts, like an entremet, or a mousse cake.
Feuilletine is known as the “secret ingredient”. Now you know the secret, too. |
It's a Cookie !
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Just like the tuile cookie, feuilletine is a baked wafer, also made from a paste of butter, sugar, egg whites, and flour. Both are spread very thin over a baking sheet, and then baked.
Or it can be shaped into fancy shapes immediately after baking, or into simple shapes, like an edible bowl used to hold ice cream or a mousse. You can also simply eat the tuile as a cookie. |
Almond tuile cookies.
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In pastry, the tuile wafer, traditionally made with almonds, is generally used as an edible garnishment. Before baking, it can be spread over a template to create different shapes, like a spoon. Or just rolled, simply into a crunchy cookie. |
Rolled tuiles.
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The feuilletine is created out of crepes dentelles. Thin, delicate, and crispy, rolled wafer cookies.
Or you can create paillete feuilletine, which is feuilletine that is crushed into bite sized, flakey wafers, commonly used as a filling or even a topping, in a number of French pastry applications, like entremets and candies.
Or you can create paillete feuilletine, which is feuilletine that is crushed into bite sized, flakey wafers, commonly used as a filling or even a topping, in a number of French pastry applications, like entremets and candies.
Crepes dentelles.
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But they're also good over ice cream. Or with just a little bit of milk, like eating cereal. They are so addictive, you might even find yourself just eating the pieces as they are. |
Once cooled, the feuilletine has become a thin, crispy wafer. The crispiness is what we want from this wafer. The crunchy texture provides a balanced contrast when used in creamy desserts.
Feuilletine is known as the “secret ingredient”.
Now you know the secret, too.
Feuilletine is known as the “secret ingredient”.
Now you know the secret, too.
A sheet of feuilletine.
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It's a Filling
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Nothing is wasted in the pastry kitchen. I imagine the pastry chefs of old created the idea of paillete feuilletine out of the broken crepes dentelles. Because of the delicacy of these cookies, I know there must have been crumbs everywhere from the broken pieces. |
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Broken pieces means lost revenue in the bakeshop, so why not
find another use for them? I'm laughing at myself, because that was how I'd recover when a mistake was made, because you can always find a purpose if you look hard enough.
find another use for them? I'm laughing at myself, because that was how I'd recover when a mistake was made, because you can always find a purpose if you look hard enough.
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Although very accessable in France, and some parts of Europe, you will not find feuilletine on the shelves in your local American grocery store. |
You can order feuilletine online, however, but it is very expensive, at nearly $12 a pound. Because of its flakey, crunch nature, you can replace feuilletine with chocolate coated rice krispies, or corn flakes, but you're also replacing the flavor, I must add. There is this taste in the feuilletine that just cannot be replaced.
Making Feuilletine
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Fortunately, you won’t have to do either, you can make your own at a fraction of the cost. All you need to start is sugar, flour, and eggs. Feuitilline can last for up 2 months, if kept covered in a Ziploc, or plastic container. |
This will keep them crispy and crunchy. If left uncovered, the humidity in the air will soften your flakes. |
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Your Mise' En Place' For ease of preparation, I recommend the following tools. |
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Tips for Preparation
Before getting started, check out these preparation tips
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Tip for Step 1
Your butter, sugar, baking soda, and flavors will become your emulsion, first. |
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Tip for Step 4
Once you add your flour and milk, that emulsion will become a thick batter, like a paste. This recipe is basically a cookie recipe. You can try by taking a cookie scoop to scoop & bake balls of dough, but I can't guarantee any outcome. I haven't tried that, yet. I'd imagine it'd turning out a very chewy molasses cookie. |
Batter keeps in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Keep covered.
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Tip for Step 5
Spreading the Batter But it is feuilletine we are making today. Use only 3 ounces of batter at a time. Spread the batter onto your silicone sheet before placing on the baking sheet. Doing this will make it so much easier to spread the batter as thin as possible, without any obstacles. Don't bother with parchment paper with this task. A silicone mat is the perfect tool of choice for this recipe. |
The batter will stick to the paper, and you will need two hands to hold the paper down, while the other two hands spread the batter. Repeat Step 5 until all batter is used.
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This batter is a little sticky and somewhat thick, so you will need to add a little pressure when spreading the batter. The use of the offset spatula is your best tool for this, because it will make it easier for spreading. This will reduce hand fatigue, because a flat spatula will wear your hand out trying to spread this batter so thin. |
You want to spread the batter razor thin, almost translucent. Nice and thin is how we like it. This thinness is our crunch appeal. |
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Tip for Step 6
Baking They don't bake for long. You're basically drying out the ingredients. When taken out of the oven, leave the feuilletine on the baking sheet. Carryover cooking will continue to dry it out from the bottom up. |
Feuilletine looking like the roof tiles they're named after.
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Allow the sheets to cool off completely, before breaking them up into little pieces.At this point the uses for feuilletine are endless. Although, feuilletine is not always used by itself. If used alone in a creamy filling, it will soften. And we don't want that. We want to keep the crunch. They remain crunchy if between buttercream layers, however. Traditionally, feuilletine is mixed with a praline paste to keep it's crunch. Sometimes it's mixed with the praline and chocolate. Or just with chocolate/ Or with a ganache. All to provide a crunchy, chewy texture to your cake. |
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You can substitute crushed graham crackers with the feuilletine for the bottom of your cheesecake. Stir it with the butter and layer it just like you would with the crushed graham crackers. Sprinkle feuilletine over your dessert, as a garnish.
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Great sprinkled over ice cream. Dangerously addictive eating them just as they are.
Use them according to your recipe's instructions. And always, always get creative. |
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Spicy Feuilletine
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Yields 4 cups |
Procedure
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with baking silicone mats. Step 2 In your mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, baking soda, and flavors until light and fluffy. Step 3 Add your molasses. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape the bowl, then add the egg. Mix on low speed. Step 4 Add the flour, all at once. Then drizzle the milk in, and mix only until combined. |
Step 5
Using about 3 ounces of batter per sheet pan. Lay your silicone baking sheet on a flat work surface, and dump the batter on. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter across the silicone sheet, razor thin. Almost translucent. Next, lay the batter filled silicone sheet onto your baking sheet pan Step 6 Bake for 8 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, it will be pliable until it cools. Allow to cool on the baking pan completely before crumbling to pieces. Step 7 Repeat Steps 5 and 6, spreading & baking until all of the batter is used up. The batter can keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. |
