Camelia Baskets

These are twist on a classic tuile cookie, which is a moldable caramel cookie that has a creamy filling.  These are not difficult to make, but do require a lot of patience!  I've included an "easy" version at the bottom of the recipe.  I like serving them in the winter when the camelias begin to bloom with mandarins, kiwi, and pomegranate arils.

Camelia Baskets

Ingredients

Baskets

• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 5 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 cup cane syrup
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

• Filling

• 3 cups cream
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Fresh seasonal fruit for garnish

Makes 20-25 baskets
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 and position rack in middle of oven.  Grease a muffin pan and the back of a round 1/4 cup measuring cup with non-stick spray; you'll be using the measuring cup to press the warm cookies into the muffin pan mold; if you don't have round measuring cups, use a shot glass or something slightly smaller than the muffin pan.
Combine butter, sugar, cane syrup, and salt in a medium sauce pan.  Heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved; do no let come to a simmer.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly while you combine the flour and ground ginger.  Sift dry mixture directly into the wet batter and stir until it is combined into a paste.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, place 5-6 heaping teaspoons of the mixture.  Make to space these out because they will spread a lot.  Gently spread each mound of mixture with a greased spoon to flatten a little.  Bake 6 minutes, turning the pan at the 3 minute mark.  While baking start loading up your next pan of cookie mixture.
After 6 minutes, remove pan from oven and let cool slightly.  Using a small offset spatula gently remove a cooked cookie into the muffin pan, quickly and gently press the greased 1/4 cup measuring cup into the muffing tin to create a basket shape from the cookie.  Working quickly repeat with remaining cookies.  Let set up for about 2 minutes until cold and crisped before removing from tin.  Continue cooking and creating baskets until all batter is used up.
*This is time consuming and can be frustrating.  If the batter in the pot starts to get cool to work with you can gently reheat it, if the cookies on the sheet get to crisp to mold into the muffin pan you can reheat them in the oven.  Just go slow and take your time.  And yes, you can use mini-muffin pans, but it's just adding more frustration, so be ware.
When ready to serve, whip cream until stiff peaks form, add powdered sugar and vanilla.  Pipe cream mixture into baskets and top with fresh fruit to serve.  Serve within 15 minutes; the crisps will start to soften from the whipped cream quickly.
*If your baskets don't turn out well or if you don't want to spend the time to make them, just pour the cookie base baking sheets (divide between two or three) and bake according to directions.  Allow mixture to cook and break into shards - when ready to serve you can pipe the whipped cream into a pretty vessel and top with fresh fruits and shards of cookie.