cannele pan

[Woods]

Hello, I have a silicone cannele pan and can't seem to get the ones in the center cooked well. The molds are small, about 1.5". Is this a common problem or maybe my crumby oven? Thanks.

[James MacGuire]

If I promise ( cross my heart and hope to die ) that I'm not being flippant, would you get back to me and tell me what kind of pan it is ?

I will do my best to answer.

James

[Steve Klc]

James--here's a link to the kind of flexible "non-stick" mold Woods is likely talking about:

http://www.jbprince.com/index.asp?PageActi...ROD&ProdID=1366

There are a few different brand names--like Flexipan, Gastroflex, etc--and come in different colors--gray, black, orange. Depending on the brand they can range from 1/4 sheet to full sheet size. The 1/4 sheet sizes of the cannele have maybe 18 to 20 cavities.

[James MacGuire]

I apologise, for without accents, etc, I didn't realise that you were speaking abou the those little rather dense and somewhat candied little cakes made in the southwest of France.

Alas, I have much to learn about them, and can only say that they are among a bunch of things which I have been meaning to get to.... The classic molds are made of thick metal, and it has only been since these things have been enjoying their fifteen minutes of celebrity that molds are being made out of that new fangled flexible material.

I suspect that the new molds are less than ideal, and that home ovens do not maintain/retain enough sudden and sustained heat to achieve the desired dark bake and agreeably dense texture.

Thanks for your patience

James

[Jeffrey]

One small change in your baking might help. Once you fill the cannelle molds, put them on the back side of a sheet pan to bake. This should help with more even heat distribution. If that doesn't help, try filling every other cavity of the mold.

Bonne chance,

Jeffrey

[Jay Francis]

I thought I would share my canele experience with you from this week-end. I first heard about these from Clotilde's www.chocolateandzuchini.com website. Then, as I was cruising the sale item section of Williams and Sonoma, I came across a close-out for a silicone canele pan.

I made mine by following the Paula Wolfert recipe to the letter, except, not having a source for virgin beeswax to make my white oil, I just lubricated the canele molds with vegetable oil.

I placed the mold on a silpat sheet and then on a stainless steel cookie sheet.

Poured in my very liquid batter, wondering how something so liquid would work, and put them in the oven at 400 F for two hours. They came out looking exactly like the pictures I have seen. Visually perfect. White top where the indentation is, brown to black exterior that hardened up into a crispy crust, and a custard-y interior.

Visually perfect, but the taste? Blecch. The caramel was so dark and bitter and center had no sweetness. I finished them off convincing myself that this was an exotic taste that one would acquire. And indeed, they did seem to get better, though not by much.

Now, I have three other, different recipes to try, to see if this is just a pastry that doesn't taste good to me or what, having never tried an authentic one.

Hope that helps.

Jay

[James MacGuire]

Jay-

I, too, came accross bee's (bees'? how much wax can one bee produce?!!!) in Lenotre's book on traditional French desserts ( which I'm fond of because it seems to be a work of love, much more so than his earlier stuff).

In my answer, I used some such phrase as " fifteen minutes of celebrity " because having eaten a few in France ( and from reputable outfits), I have come to the conclusion that they are a curiosity, more than anything else. I've been meaning to make a few just to find out how they work, and would make them once in a while but not all the time.

What you mentioned about the taste and texture seems pretty much on track. The old fashioned metal molds are probably still the best idea, but at the same time, it is perhaps the beauty of them which helped start the craze.....

Thanks for your comments

James

[Jay Francis]

Success. It was good to hear that my description seems to fit the traditional canele. However, in the interim, I have tried another recipe which calls for more flour and more sugar, such that the canele's rise like souffle's or genoise's. The baking time is less, one hour. Using my silicon canele mold, I decided to try the first batch doing everything wrong. No oiling of the mold, batter only rested overnight in the refrigerator, mold not properly cooled. This recipe makes a lot of batter, and with the one hour cooking time, I knew that I could trash the first batch and have plenty of batter left over for the next run.

Well, they came out fantastic after one hour. Not as black as Wolfert's recipe, but creamy, sweet, with a chewy outer surface. This recipe called for 'don't fill all the way to the top'. Since the Wolfert recipe canele had major shrinkage in the molds, I did fill to the top, and the canele souffle'd up. Lesson learned.

Flavor is terrific. On the sugar side. Here's the web link

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_16275,00.html

[Jay Francis]

Addenda.

For the record, the Wolfert recipe is in her latest cookbook, on Slow Mediterranean cooking. It is very possible that her recipe, albeit inedible, is the correct one.

However, for tasty canele, with a sweet center, and a chewy crispy exterior, that is, a dessert that is enjoyable, go with the Food Network recipe I posted.

Also, don't worry about the souffle rise I mentioned, just fill the canele molds to the top. They will shrink a bit.

What I found was that with the Gastoplex silicone mold I have, it will not be possible to get visually perfect canele, so don't sweat it. They will be uneven and each have their own shape.

Next, I cheated and did not use vanilla bean when I cooked my milk. I actually used Clear Van imitation vanilla, based on a recent Cooks Illustrated evaluation that, in cooked high heat baking, the imitation vanilla actually holds up better and delivers a better vanilla taste. I concur with their assessment, and save my better quality vanilla extracts for non-heat use such as whipped cream.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Jay -- sorry you've had such a time with the cannele. I'm in the Wolfert camp and love her recipe but here is the previous thread in which many of us read along and worked through cannele issues which you might find helpful.

[kitwilliams]

I have to add my defense for Paula's recipe and I, as I'm sure has Carolyn, have tried numerous canneles recipes. Paula's is my favorite.

For truly authentic results, beeswax is an essential ingredient, not simply the grease for the molds. It adds that glorious sheen to the finished product and definitely is part of what makes for the perfect crisp/chewy exterior. I've made canneles with simply oil or butter and the final result is not as good.

I am sure that copper molds deliver the best product however I use the Silicon Flex molds available from Bridge Kitchenware (and other sources, but I originally purchased mine at Bridge). As you can read in the original canneles thread, Paula has tried several silicon molds and agrees that the best results were from the Silicon Flex.

As Carolyn mentioned, all this has been more than thoroughly discussed on the original thread here on egullet. But hearing the word "inedible" applied to a recipe that is thoroughly authentic, exhaustively researched, and tested over and over again (including by many of us here on egullet), I just can't believe that you would get inedible results had the recipe been prepared correctly. In all sincerity, I am not being critical of you, Jay, I am just defending what I know to be an excellent recipe.

[James MacGuire]

I'm supposed to be some sort of expert, yet I haven't looked into most of these things as carefully as you lot.

I had the honor of cooking dinner once for Paula Wolfert, and in light of all of this, thank my lucky stars I didn't make caneles.....

Toodles

James

[Wolfert]

I remember the evening very well, and I remember you and the bread were the stars of the evening.

cheers,

Paula

[FoodMan]

I tried Wolfert's recipe over the weekend and I have to say they were absolutely wonderful. Crunchy chewy crust with a very soft and custardy center. Here is a picture I took :

Elie