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Canelé de Bordeaux

What you need (about 12 canelés)

You'll also need a canelé mold, ideally metalthis is what I got: Chefmade mold from Amazon, plus a saucepan, whisk, fine-mesh sieve, mixing bowl, pastry brush, and cooling rack.

Procedure

  1. Heat the milk and butter. Bring the milk and butter just to a boiloff the heat as soon as it bubbles — no need to keep it boiling, then remove from the heat.
  2. Make the egg mixture. In a bowl, combine the sugar, bread flour, salt, 2 egg yolks, and 1 whole egg. Mix until smooth, but avoid whipping in too much airwhisk just until combined. canelé batter doesn't want air in it.
  3. Add the hot milk gradually. Slowly pourthe step I'm most careful about. thin stream, whisking the whole time, a little at a time — never the whole pan at once. batter will look crêpe-thin at the end; that's normal the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking continuously. This prevents the eggs from scrambling.
  4. Add the flavorings. Stir in the vanilla extract, rum extract, and rumI add these at the very end, not into the hot milk.
  5. Strain and rest. Pass the batter through a fine-mesh sieve, cover, and refrigerate for 12–48 hours. Around 18–24 hours works especially well.
  6. Prepare the mold. Preheat the oven to 480–485 °F / 250 °C using regular Bake, not convection. Brush the inside of the metal mold with a thin layer of softened buttercoverage matters more than a perfect finish. soft enough to spread easily, thin coat into every groove and across the bottom, wipe off clumps and puddles. brush marks are fine — stop fiddling with it, making sure to coat the ridges and bottom.
  7. Rest the batter. Take the batter out of the fridge about 15 minutes before filling so it loses some of its chill.
  8. Fill the molds. Gently stirrecombine, don't fluff. a little separation / sediment after resting is normal. keep the rest of the batter in the fridge while batch 1 bakes, not next to the oven the chilled batter to recombine it, then fill each cavity about ¾ full, since the batter expands in the mold.
  9. Bake at high heat first. Bake at 480–485 °F for 10 minutesonly with a mold rated for this temperature — check yours.
  10. Lower the temperature. Without opening the ovenhigh heat sets the shell; the low stage finishes the inside while the outside keeps browning. turn the dial down and start the 2nd timer immediately — don't wait for the oven to fall to 350, reduce the temperature to 350 °F / 180 °C and continue baking for about 60–70 minutes.
  11. Check the color. The canelés should be deep mahogany brownthe surface you see in the oven becomes the bottom and runs lighter than the sides. near the end, carefully unmold one and look at the whole thing. too pale → back in its mold for 5 more min, then check again, not just golden. A dark caramelized shell is what gives them their characteristic crisp exterior.
  12. Unmold immediately. Let the pan sit for only about 30 seconds, then invert the canelés onto a cooling rackset this up before opening the oven: rack over the tray, dry mitts, flip both together. rack holes must be small enough to hold them. never pry with a metal knife — soft utensils only, or the coating suffers.
  13. Cool before eating. Let them cool for at least 30–60 minutes. The crust becomes crisper as they cool, while the inside stays soft, moist, and custardy.the rack isn't overnight storage — leftovers go in the fridge within 2 h

Earl Grey variant

Same recipe, but the milk gets steeped first. Use about 540 mL of milk instead of 500, since the tea bags absorb some.

  1. Heat the milk on its own until steaming and just below a boilno butter yet — it goes in after the tea.
  2. Turn off the heat, add 4–5 Earl Grey tea bags, cover, and steep for about 8–10 minutes.
  3. Remove the tea bags or strain out the leaves. Don't squeeze the bags aggressivelythat's where the bitterness comes from.
  4. Add the butter to the warm milk, bring it just to a boil, and continue from step 2 above.