Christmas Cookies #8: Canelés (Cannelés) de Bordeaux - French Sweet Little Treats

If you have never tried Canelés I highly recommend them, it is a classical specialty from Bordeaux, France. They are quite unlike any other petits fours and you are going to love them. Imagine a perfect bite of caramelized crêpe of a most delicious flavor with pastry cream melting in your mouth, crunchy outside and soft at the center.

I had them twice at different places, once in "La Colombe" coffee shop in Philadelphia and second time in Washington, DC at "Paul", small French restaurant. After this last encounter I have decided to bake them myself - first, because I loved this dessert a lot, and secondly, because they were extremely expensive. I thought "how hard can it be" :) So I have done my research, ordered silicone mold from Amazon.com and vualá! It was not very difficult, the only thing to pay attention to is the dough which needs to stay refrigerated for at least 24 hours or longer. So you will need a little patience in the process :) I can tell you the truth; the first batch did not even make it to the blog. We have finished 2 dozen of Canelés in one day, my husband worked from home that day, you get the picture :) Next day I have made a double recipe, just to make sure we have enough.

Oh, one more thing, while I did my research I have found very helpful chezpim blog post about perfect Canelés. If you want like to go nuts and bake a perfect Canelés you should read this first. As for myself I have used a simple recipe.



Note: You will need a canelés mold. I use mini silicone molds, you may buy different size, I just like my canelé as a perfect bite.

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus at least 24 hours chilling
Cooking time: about 55 minutes
Makes: about 25 mini canelés

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups (500 ml) milk
• 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/4 cup (60ml) rum
• 2 Tbsp. (30) butter, melted

Directions:

Put the milk and seeds from the vanilla bean in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking continuously. Let it cool for a few minutes. Whisk in sugar and sifted flour, mix thoroughly until very smooth, then pass through a conical strainer. Add the egg yolks, one by one, and gently mix. Add melted butter and the rum. Whisk batter until smooth and let cool completely. The batter should be between a crèpes batter and pancake batter.

Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

Note: The uncooked mixture will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 ays, which allows you to bake the canelés as and when you want them.

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.

Give the canelé mixture a good whisk, then fill the molds to 2/3 of the way. Bake for 5 minutes, then lower temperature to 350°F/180°C and bake for an additional 50 minutes.  Take out of the oven, leave canelés in molds for 5 minutes, then un-mould them onto a cooling rack. Serve the canelés just warm, arranging them on a plate.