Raspberry-Cacao Frozen Yogurt and Coconut Tuiles

This is a super-easy cacao-infused frozen yogurt recipe paired with a not-too-complicated coconut tuile in which to serve the frozen treat.

Don’t skip the tuiles! They’re not that hard to make, and when you master them, they’ll likely end up being a go-to recipe for any gathering where you truly want to impress with your dessert presentation. You can serve your favorite mousse, sorbet or ice cream in this adorable, edible cup.

This recipe is adapted from the Harney & Sons Tea Cookbook. The cookbook’s frozen yogurt is infused with a Harney & Sons chocolate-mint tea blend. Instead, I used straight up cacao husks.

Cacao husks are the outer shell of the cacao bean and they typically get discarded when the beans are processed into chocolate products. But if you steep the husks in boiled water, you get a tea-like brew that tastes like the essence of hot chocolate, without all the cream and sugar. A few companies are now selling cacao husks as tea or tea blends, including Tisano and a local Denver company near me called The Pomm.

The cacao and raspberry are a great combination together, but the cacao would also be delicious paired with strawberry or even blueberry. And the coconut tuiles are delicious with just about anything you put inside them.

Happy cooking and sipping!

Adapted by Suzanne Klein, Tea Foodie from the Raspberry-Chocolate Mint Frozen Yogurt and Coconut Tuiles recipes in the Harney & Sons Tea Cookbook.

Makes 1 quart of frozen yogurt and 8 tuiles

Ingredients:

For the frozen yogurt:

½ cup water

1/3 cup cacao husks (or your favorite chocolate-flavored tea)

8 oz. fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

1 quart plain yogurt

For the tuiles:

¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, plus 1 additional tablespoon melted

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preparation:

For frozen yogurt:

1. Boil the water, add cacao husks, and steep, covered, for 10 minutes. Strain, and set tea aside to cool.

2. Puree raspberries and sugar together in a food processor. Press mixture through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Rinse out the food processor bowl and add the pureed raspberries, cooled tea and yogurt back into the bowl, and puree until smooth. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until well chilled. Then prepare in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Freeze until ready to serve. Serve a scoop or two in the coconut tuiles and garnish with chocolate shavings or cacao nibs.

For the tuiles:

1. Bring the brown sugar, 4 tablespoons of butter, and corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring constantly. Stir in the flour, and continue to boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. You want the mixture to be cool enough to scoop up and handle, but don’t let it get too cool or it will start to harden.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and brush each with melted butter. Set 4 highball glasses upside down on the counter.

3. Set 4 tablespoon-size balls of the coconut dough about 6 inches apart on one of the baking sheets. Repeat for the second baking sheet. Using your fingertips, flatten each ball into 2-inch rounds. Bake the first sheet of 4 cookies until they are golden brown, about 8 minutes. The cookies will spread to about 5 inches.

4. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies stand for a couple of minutes until they are cool enough to touch and firm enough to hold their shape. If they are too hot they will break apart when you handle them, and if they are too cool they won’t be pliable enough to mold. Carefully loosen them from the pan with a spatula, and lay each one over a glass, gently pressing it around the glass to form a cup shape.

5. Let the cookies cool over the glasses until hardened. Remove from the glasses, invert, and let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container. While the first batch of tuiles are cooling over the glasses, put the second baking sheet in the oven and repeat the process.