Try making this sweet, delicate cookie with any nut. It’s a terrific garnish for ice creams or chocolate desserts.

　　

Ingredients

makes about thirty 2 1/4-inch cookies

　　3/4 cup (250g) fondant (see page 275)

　　3 tablespoons (50g) light corn syrup

　　Generous 1/3 cup (50g) shelled unsalted pistachios

　　

Step 1

Combine the fondant and corn syrup in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until a light caramel color. Stir in the pistachios and scrape out onto a Silpat or parchment. Let cool completely.

　　

Step 2

Heat the oven to 325°F or 300°F on convection.

　　

Step 3

Break the pistachio mixture into small pieces. Working in small batches, process to a very fine powder in a spice grinder.

　　

Step 4

Line a baking sheet with a Silpat and set a 2 1/4-inch round stencil (see Note) on top. Sprinkle a thin, even layer of the powder into the stencil. Lift the stencil up and repeat.

　　

Step 5

Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely and store, layered between pieces of parchment, in an airtight container.

　　Cooks' Note

　　You can make a stencil with the lid from a yogurt container. Cut off most of the lip, leaving a piece to use as a tab. Trace a 2 1⁄4-inch circle in the center of the lid and cut it out with a sharp knife. If you aren’t making these for the Bitter Chocolate Custard dessert on page 174, you can just sprinkle the powder in a thin, even layer on a Silpat, bake, and let cool. Then you can cut or break the tuile into abstract shapes.

　　Reprinted with permission from Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Copyright © 2008 by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Published by Crown Publishing. All Rights Reserved.Johnny Iuzzini,, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book.Roy Finamore, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.__