Today I have a big honour to guest post at the wonderful Ping’s Pickings blog. Ping is one of my dearest blogging friends and one of the rare people who always make me laugh with her hilarious style and unique sense of humour. Thanks to Ping’s wide-ranging culinary interests, her posts are always surprising and often result in an amazing discovery, such as the excellent Coconut Pie, which under the name of Coconut Cake has become a staple in my house or the incredible Rum and Carrot Cocktail I have written about in my previous post. Since Ping is particularly fond of unusual patterns and originally shaped pastry (I still get hypnotised looking at these spirals), I have decided to write about cannelés de Bordeaux, hoping their cute shape brings a smile to Ping’s face.
Cannelés (or canelés) de Bordeaux are one of my favourite sweet treats and it would be difficult to say which aspect I appreciate the most. Their taste, aroma, texture and even the beautiful shape are all irresistible. I still remember the first time I tasted them. I loved their rich flavours and was totally blown away by their extraordinary, springy softness. As their name suggests, cannelés come from Bordeaux in France, but they are very popular all around the country and also become famous abroad (I have recently seen a Japanised version on Shizuoka Gourmet blog). Different sources quote different origins, but all agree that the characteristic shape, as well as the obligatory vanilla and rum presence are quite recent and date back to the beginning of the XXth century.
Cannelés are not really difficult, but they require patience, close attention during the long baking process, they do not accept shortcuts and every modification is a big risk. French websites, forums and blogs are full of cannelé recipes and related tips, but I must admit that I had to go through several failed experiments before I found a method that works with my oven and my silicone moulds. From my experience a big amount of rum as well as 24 hours refrigeration are necessary to obtain the optimum taste and texture. Apparently old-fashioned copper moulds guarantee the best results, but they are not easy to use and I am perfectly happy with the cannelés I obtain with very convenient silicone moulds. I have adapted my recipe from the one featured on Marmiton.
TIPS: Here are some ideas to use up 2 leftover egg whites you will be left with:
Sesame Crusted Chicken Nuggets
Preparation: 15 min + 24 hours in the fridge + about 1h30
Ingredients (makes 18-20 cannelés):
500 ml (2 cups) milk
25 g (a bit less than 1 oz) butter
pinch of salt
200 g (1 cup) sugar
100 g (about 3/4 cup) flour
100 ml (about 0,4 cup) white rum
1 vanilla pod (sliced in two, lengthwise)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
In a big bowl combine the flour, the eggs, the yolks, the sugar and the salt.
Pour the milk into a pot, add the butter and the vanilla pod.
Bring to boil.
Pour the boiling milk mixture into the bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients, constantly stirring.
When the batter has cooled down, take out the vanilla pods and scrape off the grains into the bowl, discarding the empty pods.
Add the rum, give the batter a stir and put into the fridge (covered) for 24 hours.
The following day preheat the oven to 250°C.
Fill the baking moulds up with the cold batter to the 2/3 of the height.
(If you make several batches put the remaining batter back to the fridge).
Put the moulds to the oven immediately and bake at 250°C (480°F) for 10 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 50-60 minutes (in the case of my oven it’s only 50 minutes).
Take the cannelés out of the oven and let them cool completely before removing from the mould.
They should be browned outside, but still soft inside.
Cannelés keep fresh for three days (or maybe more but I have never had a chance to check…).