Cheese tuiles made with Västerbottensost

Västerbottensost-flarn

Cheese tuiles, a type of thin papery biscuit (cookie), are very popular in Sweden. They are often made with Parmesan or Västerbottensost  and served as an aperitif with cheese straws and other nibbles. They are also served as a garnish with starters, soup or main courses where they may be bent into fancy shapes and sometimes even into baskets. Sometimes they have herbs, such as chives or olives added, but I always find that the plain tuiles are the most popular. They are very easy to make and they are very moreish. John Duxbury

Summary

Tips

•  Make these on a non-stick baking tray without any sides (as shown above), so that you can just slide them off, without breaking, on to a cooling rack.

•  Watch them carefully as they need to be just turning a nice golden colour when you remove them from the oven.

•  These can be made a day or two in advance and kept in a tin.

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas 6, fan 170°C).

2. Line two large baking trays with baking parchment. (Or use two good quality non-stick baking trays.)

3. Divide the mixture into 16 small piles on the baking trays leaving plenty of space for the cheese to spread as it melts.

4. Place half an olive on top of each pile if desired.

5. Bake for between 5 and 10 minutes until golden and the cheese has all melted and is almost set. (I normally find 8 minutes is about right, but ovens do vary so watch carefully.)

6. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then slide on to a cooling rack.

7. Serve cold as an aperitif or as a garnish for soups, salads etc.

Cheese and chive tuiles

Mix one tablespoon full of finely chopped chives with the cheese.

Cheese and chilli tuiles

•  Deseed 1 or 2 small red chilli(s) and then dry carefully on a paper towel. (This helps to prevent the colour running.)

•  Finely chop the deseeded chilli and mix with 100g grated cheese. Divide the mixture into 8 oblong mounds on baking parchment. Bake for 5-10 minutes at 150°C (300°F, gas 2, fan 140°C) until the cheese just begins to turn colour. (Note that this a lower temperature than for the recipe for round tuiles above as these are thinner.)

•  Let the tuiles cool for 1 minute or so and then trim the edges with a knife before the cheese completely solidifies. Once trimmed carefully transfer the tuiles to a cooling rack. These also go very well with broccoli soup.

Downloads

  printer version.pdf

  phone / tablet computer version.pdf