Classic canelés

Name: Classic canelés
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: Makes 16
Cuisine: French recipes
Ingredients: 500ml whole milk; 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease (optional); ½ vanilla pod, split; 250g caster sugar; 2 medium free-range eggs, plus 2 yolks; 100g plain flour; 2 tbsp dark rum; You will also need…; 8 x 70ml silicone canelé moulds (we used the https://www.amazon.co.uk/L%C3%A9ku%C3%A9-Cavity-Gourmet-Cannele-Bordelais/dp/B002ZRQ2GW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496661644&sr=8-1&keywords=L%C3%A9ku%C3%A9+Gourmet+Cannel%C3%A9+Bordelais+MouldLékué Gourmet Cannelé Bordelais Mould, £9.99)

Portion size: Makes 16
Hands-on 20 min, oven 65 minutes, plus chilling and cooling
Difficulty: medium

Recipe by: Philippe Moulin

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Philippe Moulin’s traditional French canelés are golden-brown with a crisp, shiny exterior and soft, custardy centre.

A canelé is a rich, sweet little cake from France’s Bordeaux region, flavoured with rum and vanilla, then baked in fluted moulds (cannelé, the original spelling of the cake, means ‘fluted’). The cakes’ origin is linked to the region’s wine industry – egg whites were used to clarify wine and the leftover egg yolks were used to make these celebrated delicacies.

Use Philippe’s step-by-step recipe guide to get them right every time. His most important tip? Never forget to include a touch of love when you make your canelés.

Why not serve as part as a French-inspired afternoon tea with these elegant miso caramel banoffee éclairs?

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Ingredients

500ml whole milk
100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease (optional)
½ vanilla pod, split
250g caster sugar
2 medium free-range eggs, plus 2 yolks
100g plain flour
2 tbsp dark rum

You will also need…

8 x 70ml silicone canelé moulds (we used the Lékué Gourmet Cannelé Bordelais Mould, £9.99)

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Method

Put the milk, butter and vanilla pod in a medium pan. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs and egg yolks with a balloon whisk until paler and creamy, then whisk in the flour until smooth.
Discard the vanilla pod from the pan, then pour in a third of the milk mixture. Whisk to combine.
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Pour in the remaining mixture, stirring with the whisk, until combined into a pancake batter-like consistency.
Whisk in the rum, then chill the canelé mixture in the fridge for about 12 hours.
Butter the canelé mould(s) with plenty of butter, making sure the flutes are well greased. Heat the oven to 250°C/ 230°C fan/gas 10) and put a baking sheet on the middle rack to heat up.
Stir the chilled mixture, then pour into the moulds to just below the rim.
Bake on the sheet in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas 4 and bake for 60 minutes more.
Leave the canelés to cool completely (for at least an hour) before turning out of the moulds.
Repeat the process with the rest of the batter. They’re now ready to eat or to be given as a gift.

Nutrition

174kcals Calories
7.7g (4.4g saturated) Fat
3g Protein
21.8g (17.1g sugars) Carbs
0.2g Fibre
0.1g Salt

Quick wins & tips

The mixture is best made 12 or up to 48 hours ahead. If you’re short of time, you can use the mixture after chilling for at least an hour. If you have 2 canelé moulds, bake all 16 canelés at the same time (heat 2 baking sheets in step 5 and swap them round in the oven halfway through). If you have one mould, wait until the first batch cools before turning them out and baking the next.

Philippe’s tips for success
Traditionally canelés were made in beautiful copper moulds but silicone moulds are much more practical (and much less expensive), and provide a more even shape. They’re also easier to clean and not as heavy as the copper moulds.

You only need to butter silicone moulds the first time you use them. Always wash silicone moulds carefully by hand, never in the dishwasher.

The secret to perfectly cooked canelés is an initial blast of heat followed by a long bake at a lower temperature afterwards.

As with any recipe, it’s important to remember that each oven cooks differently, so you need to know your oven well and do trials until you get canelés that are cooked exactly right – crisp and caramelly on the outside; soft and custardy on the inside.

Leave the canelés until they’re completely cool before unmoulding them from the silicone moulds. When they’re warm the cakes are softer and more liable to break.

The most important tip: never forget to include a touch of love when you make your canelés.

Make Ahead

The unbaked mixture will keep, covered in the fridge, for up to 3 days. Cooked, cooled canelés freeze well in a sealed container. Heat from frozen in the oven (200°C/180°C fan/gas 6) for 4-5 minutes. Let them cool to room temperature, then put in the fridge for 5 minutes to re-set the crust before eating.