Cannelés (Canelés) de Bordeaux Recipe

Caneles on a cooling rack, view at an angle.

Cannelés (Canelés) de Bordeaux Recipe

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: canele, canelé de bordeaux, caneles

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 1

Refrigeration time: 1

Total Time: 1 30

Servings: caneles

Calories: 164kcal

Author: Victor

Recipe and instructions for making canele (canelé) that have a rich, moist and custardy interior which is sealed into a thin, crispy, caramelized shell.

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Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

2 vanilla beans (preferably Madagascan)
500 ml milk (cold)
200 g cane sugar (250 g if you want more sweetness following traditional recipes; I use 200 g)
100 g all-purpose flour (you can also use bread flour)
50 g butter (melted)
2 eggs (large)
2 egg yolks
60 ml dark rum

For the mold coating:

40 g beeswax
60 g butter

Instructions

Slit the vanilla beans lengthwise, and scrape the seeds from them with a small knife. Put the seeds, vanilla pods, and milk in a saucepan, and bring them to a gentle simmer, and then turn off the heat and let sit for two minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, eggs, and egg yolks. Add melted butter and whisk more until combined.
Remove the pods from the milk. Add 1/4 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and mix well. Add flour and continue mixing until combined. Then slowly add the remaining milk while continuing to mix until all ingredients are mixed well. Add rum and mix. This way, you will avoid lumps and will end up with the perfect consistency of the batter. (Note: this step is very important. Adding hot milk to the egg mixture will temper the eggs and create custard, which will ensure the perfect consistency of your caneles).
Refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. This is non-negotiable. The texture and flavor improve dramatically by the second day and third day. So, 24 hour rest is mandatory. 48 hours if you want amazing canele. The batter may be kept in a fridge for up to 4 days. Each time you use the batter, stir it well and work it for at least 2 minutes with a whisk.
For a smooth, shiny surface that accentuates the dark brown color of the caneles coat the molds with a mix of 40 g beeswax and 60 g butter melted together. For this, melt the beeswax and butter together, quickly pour the mix into a mold, and then back into the original container. Turn upside down on a cooling rack with a paper towel underneath to catch drippings. Once cooled down, chill in a freezer or a refrigerator until ready to bake.
Preheat oven to 550F. Fill the molds with batter to 3/8 inch (1 cm) from the top. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake them at 550F for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven, drop the temperature to 375F and continue baking for another 45-50 minutes. Every oven is different, so your baking times may need to be adjusted.
Remove caneles from the oven. Quickly unmold them and place them on a cooling rack upside down. Caneles usually slide right out of their molds, but if they don't, turn the mold upside down and knock on a hard surface, such as a cutting board.
Let cool for 2 hours at room temperature. Caneles must be eaten on the day they are baked.

Notes

Note 1

Pierre Hermé recommends that before you use your copper canele molds for the first time, clean them (i.e. wash them with warm soapy water and dry them with a towel), and then season them by coating them with butter and placing them for 20 minutes in a hot oven - 250° C (500° F) or more. Remove them from the oven, wipe them with a paper towel while they’re still hot, and allow them to cool before using. Never wash the molds once seasoned, only wipe them with a dry cloth or a paper towel after each use (baking).

That said, it's always a smart idea to first consult the manufacturer's instructions on how to season and care for your shiny copper molds as there may be a difference in how they are made, necessitating different care.

Note 2

60 g bees wax and 90 g butter is enough to coat 20 2-inch canele molds, with just a little bit left over. You could probably do 22-24 molds with that amount. This time around, I heated canele molds in the oven and left them outside too long while I was shaving bees wax and then microwaving it with the butter.

When pouring hot wax/butter mixture the molds were just warm to touch. I microwaved the shaved wax and the diced butter together on the highest power for 1 minute and 45 seconds, until I noticed it started to boil. Working quickly, I coated all 20 molds with a nice, even layer. Surprisingly, the temperature was just perfect to give a nice layer of wax.

Before, I would sometimes get too thin a layer, because the molds were pre-heated too hot. So, heat your molds until warm to touch, heat wax/butter until first signs of boiling. Work quickly to pour the hot mix into molds all the way to the top, pour out, then turn over onto a rack to remove excess wax. For the sake of efficiency, I pour the wax into the next mold as I go, not back to the container, and top up with the mix from the container as needed.

Nutrition