Please help with cannele recipe

[Paul Bacino]

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?

[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.

[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.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

My experience has been with a silicon mold and this unorthodox recipe.     Excellent results IMHO with minimum effort and angst.

 

[ElsieD]

45 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

My experience has been with a silicon mold and this unorthodox recipe.     Excellent results IMHO with minimum effort and angst.

 

You had mentioned this recipe earlier and it is one of 4 I intend to try.  It sure is different from the rest.

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Pete Fred said:

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.

 

Those are gorgeous.  What kind of flour does he use?  Yours appear to be more cakey than custardy or am I wrong?  And yes, I will give Kriss Harvey a listen.  Thanks for your input.

[Pete Fred]

I often see on the internet the inside of a cannelé described as custardy, or like crème brûlée, and it's a little misleading. It's really just soft and yielding, a contrast to the crisp shell. I wouldn't describe it as creamy; there's a definite texture to it, but it's difficult to put into words. You'll only know when you make (or buy) a good one, and most of the ones you see online (and in shops!) are not very good, I'm afraid.

 

The Hermé recipe uses French T45 flour, I think, which has a protein content of 9-10%, so American cake flour might be the equivalent.

[teonzo]

I would say the inside is similar to crepes, after all the recipes are pretty similar.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[rotuts]

Wow

 

Excellent  !

 

not to be a Noob :

 

I used to get Excellent Results w Tj's  Fz cannels

 

w respect  but they no longer carry them

 

maybe in the Spring

 

Ill join in

 

and make my onw

 

for go to France

 

even better Mon treal

 

cheers

 

hopefully their is a snail on at least one face.

 

 

[ElsieD]

Yesterday I baked the last four. I decided to coat 2 of the molds with the beeswax mixture the other with butter.  The ones coated in beeswax are on the left the ones coated in butter are on the right.  They were baked at 400F for 70 minutes.  Surprisingly , the ones coated in butter were shinier than the ones coated in beeswax and had the same crunch.  I wasn't expecting that. Next up is the Pierre Herme recipe.

[teonzo]

The one on the right seems perfect, so you got the correct settings for your oven. Now it's just abount finding your favourite recipe, eating the trials will be a huge sacrifice I suppose.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

The one on the right seems perfect, so you got the correct settings for your oven. Now it's just abount finding your favourite recipe, eating the trials will be a huge sacrifice I suppose.

 

 

 

Teo

 

 

It's a good thing I'm up for the challenge!

[ElsieD]

I made the Pierre Herme recipe the other day and baked two last night.  When I took the batter out of the fridge, a thick layer of something had settled to the top.  I stirred it back in, and filled the molds and placed them in the oven.  This time, just to see the result, I sprayed the inside of the molds with cooking spray.  When I went to take the spoon out the  batter, I was surprised to see that it had a  mound of what looked like flour on it.  I stirred that back in and wondered what impact that would have.  The caneles were baked at 400F convection for 70 minutes.  As you can see, they would have benefited from less time in the oven.  They verged on burnt and tasted like it although the insides were good.  I just checked the batter and, as was the case yesterday, it seems to have separated again - a foamy top and the flour is on the bottom.  I did not have this problem with the Paula Wolfert recipe.  

[ElsieD]

Well, I think I finally nailed it.

[rotuts]

@ElsieD 

 

wow , those look soooooo  good.

 

congratulations 

[gfweb]

@ElsieD That's perfect!