Some of you will instantly recognise this speciality from Bordeaux…the delicious canelés. They are baked in a small, striated cylinder, traditionally made from copper. But after a couple of disasters trying to make canelés using these beautiful metal moulds, I caved in and bought, on the internet, a silicon mould that makes 16 canelés, for around £7. And it works a treat!
The secret of a successful canelé resides in the contrast between its soft, tender custard centre and its dark, thick caramelised crust. Divine with a cup of hot, steamy coffee. And they’re so quick to prepare – about 10 minutes – but they bake for around 1 hour, depending on how caramelised you like them!
To make 16 small canelés, you need:
Canelés
INGREDIENTS
- 250 ml milk
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 25 g butter
- 50 g flour
- 125 g caster sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp rum
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a saucepan, bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla and butter.
- During that time, mix together in a bowl the flour, sugar and salt. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix well.
- Pour the hot milk into the bowl and mix further. Let the mixture cool down before adding the rum.
- Place in the fridge for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C with the baking sheet on which the canelés will bake inside.
- Grease the mould, or individual moulds, well with butter, making sure to get it all the way into the fiddly bits.
- Pour the mixture into the mould and place on the baking sheet. First bake the canelés for 20 minutes before turning the oven temperature down to 180°C and bake for another 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how caramelised you like them.
- Demould and eat while still warm.
