Making cannelés/canelés

[catdaddy]

I think I remember that they don't have any eggs in them.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, catdaddy said:

I think I remember that they don't have any eggs in them.

Egg yolks in the ones I make

[Fernwood]

A decade of canelé obsession:  Please help with cannele recipe

[eugenep]

I tried the canneles recipe by Saveur last night in a muffin pan at https://www.saveur.com/caneles-recipe#page-2

 

and they came out burnt half-way through cooking 

 

i compared other recipes and they all say less than 1 hour but the Saveur recipe required over 2 hours for a similar or less portion size 

 

Is Saveur or Niko Triantafillou  (the  writer) mistaken and I wonder about Saveur (like is it a real magazine or just a vehicle for ads) 

Edited April 16, 2019 by eugenep (log)

[gfron1]

The most recent Toothache magazine has a nice article that compares techniques, flours, formulas to pick "the best" for caneles.

[eugenep]

44 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

The most recent Toothache magazine has a nice article that compares techniques, flours, formulas to pick "the best" for caneles.

That's cool - a book written by chefs for chefs/cooks 

 

I wish I could read an issue or get sample articles to know if it's content relevant to me 

 

I subscribed to some magazines but end up never reading their articles and eventually just cancel the subscription (with great difficulty) 

 

I thought Lucky Peach was kinda cool but too much in-fighting among the team before getting dissolved ( I heard) 

[eugenep]

I tried making it again using different recipe tonight. The outside burned only a little bit and was only a little bitter but when I cut open and ate the inside it’s raw dough. Yesterday it was burned completely. I think it’s not coming out right and I think I’m going to give up. It’s too hard for me. I don’t know if people know what the problem is. I’m using a muffin pan. Maybe the heat distribution in the mold might be more even so that the inside cooks before the outside burns?

[gfweb]

 

 

Toothache looks cool, but $10 an issue for an e-copy seems like it will price itself out of the  chef market unless they have tie-ins with Sysco or somebody who will give it to chefs as a perk.

 

I think t hat the dimensions of the cannelle may be the critical variable. Different ratio of volume to height than a muffin.  I believe amazon has cheap silicon cannele trays for less than the price of an issue of Toothache

Edited April 17, 2019 by gfweb (log)

[eugenep]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

 

Toothache looks cool, but $10 an issue for an e-copy seems like it will price itself out of the  chef market unless they have tie-ins with Sysco or somebody who will give it to chefs as a perk.

 

I think t hat the dimensions of the cannelle may be the critical variable. Different ratio of volume to height than a muffin.  I believe amazon has cheap silicon cannele trays for less than the price of an issue of Toothache

 

yeah - maybe the dedicated canele molds might better distribute the heat. I might try it that way but wary of accumulating more molds in the closet and I have to eat my mistakes first before possibly eating more mistakes

[Margaret Pilgrim]

II have made "cheat caneles" with great success.     Silicone mold and this recipe.     https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-07-fo-canneles7-story.html

 

My results

 

[ElsieD]

On 6/5/2019 at 11:25 AM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

II have made "cheat caneles" with great success.     Silicone mold and this recipe.     https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-07-fo-canneles7-story.html

 

My results

 

 

I had my first cannele the other day and was blown away by how good it was and am now determined to make them.  I like the look of the recipe you linked to and printed it.  Can you tell me the size of the molds you used and how many the recipe yielded?  I don't have any molds but I read on ChefSteps that you can use any number of different  molds.  They specifically mentioned Madeline pans and i have those so may try that.  If anyone else has a tried and true recipe I'd   be interested in hearing from you.  I do have Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi and she has a recipe in that book.  I'm excited to try these and if anyone else has some wisdom to impart I'm all ears.

[ElsieD]

On 1/3/2013 at 2:37 PM, Paul Bacino said:

My first try at baking these things-- I used the DeBuyer Silicon Molds!!

http://chezpim.com/bake/canele-recipe-method

I actually didnt use beeswax and coated the molds in Brown butter, WFIW.

Needs a little work-- but they are all gone!! Can you get that dark brown color with the silicon milds?

 

Wow, those are beauties!  What recipe did you use?  I have never made them and want to try.  I just read this whole thread and there is a lot of good info here.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

As I remember. the recipe made 3 pans worth, i.e., 24 pieces.    You can also refrigerate the batter for a subsequent bake.

[ElsieD]

2 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

As I remember. the recipe made 3 pans worth, i.e., 24 pieces.    You can also refrigerate the batter for a subsequent bake.

 

Thanks!  I read the 12 pages of another topic on cannelles and they said there are variations in quality between the silicone baking cups.  Do you know what brand yours is?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

4 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Thanks!  I read the 12 pages of another topic on cannelles and they said there are variations in quality between the silicone baking cups.  Do you know what brand yours is?

 

It's marked "SiliconeZone".

[Paul Bacino]

16 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

Wow, those are beauties!  What recipe did you use?  I have never made them and want to try.  I just read this whole thread and there is a lot of good info here.

 

 

I used this recipe:

 

https://www.saveur.com/caneles-recipe/--  But I also used help from my WineBeserker forum friends

 

https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=131029&p=2082284&hilit=canales#p2082284

Edited December 2, 2019 by Paul Bacino (log)

[ElsieD]

I bought copper canele molds yesterday and have seasoned them following Paula Wolfert's instructions.   They are cooling in the oven.  Yesterday I also bought food grade beeswax.  I bought a piece the size of a regular muffin and it cost all of $1.75.  For my first batch I am going to make Paula Wolfert's recipe.  I have found others that I would like to try as well but that will be my starting point.  I will make the batter up today and will try baking a couple tomorrow after the batter has sat for 24 hours.  I found a good article on canelles while I was googling about them,   here it is:  https://tasteofartisan.com/canele/

[ElsieD]

On Sunday I made the batter using Paula Wolfert's recipe.  I baked two sets of three today, using the baking instructions given by Dorie Greenspan for the first batch.  This was bake (non-convect) at 450F for 30 minutes and then 400F for 30 minutes.  She has you leave them in the molds for 10 minutes before unmolding them.  As you can see, two of them have what I have learned the French call "white ass" or pale bottoms.  The second batch of three were baked per Paula's instructions, 375F convection for 1 hour and 15 minutes and unmolded immediately.  I have great colour on two of them, less so on the third.  I haven't cut them open yet as I am waiting for them to cool.  When I do, I'll post another picture.

 

I used butter and beeswax melted together to line the molds. When I first lined them, I noticed the wax was very thick.  I put them in a hot oven for a few minutes and emptied them of the excess wax.  Next time, I'll start with warm molds so as not to have this problem.  I have some batter left and tomorrow I'm going to try to just butter some molds, no beeswax and compare.

[ElsieD]

Here is a picture showing the middle ones cut in half.  The outsides are crunchy, the insides custardy.  Really good.  I need to solve the "white ass" problem.  Any suggestions?

[teonzo]

12 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Here is a picture showing the middle ones cut in half.  The outsides are crunchy, the insides custardy.  Really good.  I need to solve the "white ass" problem.  Any suggestions?

 

The insides look pretty good. The outsides should be darker, verging on burnt but not being burnt. I would suggest trying raising the oven temperature to 400 F.
The white bottom can be caused by the pan used to lay the molds, maybe it's not doing a good job about radiating heat. So I would suggest trying to change the pan, or putting the molds on a wire rack (even better).

 

 

 

Teo

 

[kayb]

Never made a cannele in my life, so this is purely theoretical.

 

Would it help if you preheated your oven blazing hot, with a baking stone, then cut the temp down to baking temp, and put the pan and molds on the stone?

[ElsieD]

@teo  the molds were put on a wire rack and the wire rack was put on a sheet tray.  They were baked on a middle oven rack.  Those were the instructions I had.  I like @kayb 's suggestion.  I have some batter left so will bake some today at 400F, (convection?) And will preheat the oven with a pizza stone and put the tray on that.  Thanks for the suggestions.  This is my first batch so I am completely new at this.

[teonzo]

A wire rack over a pan is used to limit the heat from below: the pan acts as a shield against the radiating heat from the bottom of the oven, the wire rack is used to not put stuff in direct contact with the pan. So it seems like this is the reason behind the white bottoms.
Next time I would try using only the pan or only the wire rack. Using a baking stone could be overkill, since you are passing from a "low heat from the bottom" to a "high heat from the bottom" solution, not from a medium one, the difference could be too big, resulting in burnt bottoms.
When baking each oven is its own beast. Instructions given in books / recipes are to be taken as guidelines, then you need to adapt to your setting. Probably your source adopted the wire rack + pan solution because their oven was over-heating from the bottom. Or vice-versa, your oven is low-heating from the bottom, who knows. Even the same models can have different behaviours.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

A wire rack over a pan is used to limit the heat from below: the pan acts as a shield against the radiating heat from the bottom of the oven, the wire rack is used to not put stuff in direct contact with the pan. So it seems like this is the reason behind the white bottoms.
Next time I would try using only the pan or only the wire rack. Using a baking stone could be overkill, since you are passing from a "low heat from the bottom" to a "high heat from the bottom" solution, not from a medium one, the difference could be too big, resulting in burnt bottoms.
When baking each oven is its own beast. Instructions given in books / recipes are to be taken as guidelines, then you need to adapt to your setting. Probably your source adopted the wire rack + pan solution because their oven was over-heating from the bottom. Or vice-versa, your oven is low-heating from the bottom, who knows. Even the same models can have different behaviours.

 

 

 

Teo

 

 

I baked four more this afternoon, I'm waiting for them to cool so I can cut one open and take a picture.  I put the molds on a rack in a baking pan and put that on a pizza stone.  They were baked at 400Ffor 70 minutes.   One thing I noticed is that they had a bubble on the top.  I gave the first two a poke with a cake tester and the bubble stock to it.  I got similar bubbles on the other two but left them alone.  Should I have done the same?  

 

Next time I'll forgo the rack.  One other thing I noticed is that I had to switch their positions about three times to get them to brown evenly.  Is this normal?

 

I also read that you  do not wash the molds after use.  You simply wipe them out.  Is this correct?

 

Lots to learn. Thanks for all your help.

[Pete Fred]

I suggest you bin the Wolfert recipe; it's bobbins. Try the Pierre Hermé one instead (500g milk, 50g butter, 250g icing sugar, 100g flour, 100g egg, 40g egg yolk, 60g rum).

 

I get decent results with it...

 

 

 

Traditionally, I think cannelés used just egg yolks. Dominique Ansel makes his this way, and the recipe produces a cannelé with a slightly different texture inside...

 

 

 

 

Process is important at all stages (making the batter, lining the moulds, baking). For some tips, have a listen to Kriss Harvery talking about his obsession with making the perfect cannelé -- short version or very loooooong version.