Making cannelés/canelés

[savvysearch]

Hi Night and 22- no idea if you are still having trouble with the Canelles.  I have not actually made them myself yet, I had one once and didn't like it so...

Anyway, I happened across a recipe from Herme so here it is if it is helpful.  Looks like the key is keeping the molds and dough/batter quite cold, and chilling the dough/batter at least 24 hours.  If they spring up, prick them with the tip of a knife.

Here is Herme's recipe from Patisierre of Piere Herme

500cc milk

1 vanilla bean (scraped)

bring milk and vanilla bean to biol and steep covered overnight - then renove the bean pod

combine in this order:

50 g melted butter (cooled)

250g 10X sugar

2 Egg yolks

2 eggs

100 g flour (I assume AP)

15g dark rum

the cold vanilla milk

chill batter at least 24 hours

grease molds and keep cold

Stir batter and fill molds up to 1-2 cm from rim

bake 200 degrees C

50 min for 3.5mm mold

60 min for 4.5 cm mold

75 min for 5.5 cm mold

unmold and eat immediattely

Flame out the molds before using the first time, only clean by rubbing with soft cloth.

Sounds like a real pain - good luck!

←

Excuse my ignorance, but what's cc and what's 10X?

[Kerry Beal]

cc = cubic centimeter = ml = milliliter. So in american that would be 2 cups.

10X sugar if I'm not mistaken is icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar).

[CaliPoutine]

10X sugar if I'm not mistaken is icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar).

You're not mistaken!!

[mjc]

Wow, its amazing to see this thread has survived the test of time. I think I first posted in it in 2003.

I've made canneles in both copper and silicon molds in both convection and regular ovens and with and without beeswax.

You can get a very good cannele with silicon, but the quality of the crust is different with copper.

When I prepare the beeswax for the molds, I usually put some foil in a pot, and melt the wax with some butter, then brush it on the molds. This keeps the pot clean.

I think there is a difference in the flavor of the cannele and certainly the aroma when you use the wax.

If you are looking for alternate flavors, try Bau's chocolate cannele recipe.

[cjsadler]

Been experimenting lately with the [bleeping] silicone cannele molds. The one clear finding is that the crust is terrible (chewy and not crisp) at any temperature with any recipe if you bake on a sheet tray (except the bottoms of the canneles, which get enough heat to make a decent crust). Trying the cooling rack idea with a couple of different recipes at different temps and will report back.

[Genkinaonna]

I made canneles during culinary school as part of a plated dessert (with braised apples and rum creme anglaise) after having them in San Francisco at Chez Nous, which has since closed. I used the mini silicone molds (I think I got them at Williams Sonoma, it was a while ago) and they turned out pretty well. Anyways, I've had them at Ken's Artisan Bakery just down the road from where I live and they make a fabulous snack to munch on but I never seem to buy enough that any make it home. They actually recently started carrying them frozen at Trader Joe's, they're 4.99 for 6. They aren't crunchy but they taste pretty good, nice for a quick fix late at night after the kids are in bed.

Mmm...pastry...

[chefpeon]

I sure wish I could use the copper molds. They're just too expensive, and I'd need to buy about 2 dozen of them.....yipes..... $$$$$$

[Abra]

And they're not one bit cheaper here in France. I was going to get some, but the price was too daunting. I asked the kitchen store guy about the silicon ones and he said something like "you can make something with them, but it won't be a cannelé." So I've never made any, alas.

[alanamoana]

And they're not one bit cheaper here in France.  I was going to get some, but the price was too daunting.  I asked the kitchen store guy about the silicon ones and he said something like "you can make something with them, but it won't be a cannelé."  So I've never made any, alas.

←

when the euro was a little more competitive, i ordered them from e. dehillerin. that was the cheapest i could find them anywhere. plus shipping and everything, it actually wasn't too bad. i think i only bought 12. i've never used them... i think i'm too much of a gadget wh*re! must...have...cannele...molds!

i'll try them out sometime soon (when i can get some beeswax?!) and then post again

[cjsadler]

Been experimenting lately with the [bleeping] silicone cannele molds.  The one clear finding is that the crust is terrible (chewy and not crisp) at any temperature with any recipe if you bake on a sheet tray (except the bottoms of the canneles, which get enough heat to make a decent crust).  Trying the cooling rack idea with a couple of different recipes at different temps and will report back.

←

Ok, so the cooling rack is clearly what to use when baking with silicone molds of any sort. You get far, far better heat distribution. The canneles (at 400 degrees, about 1 hour) came out with a uniformly crisp crust, especially after sitting for awhile. However, my the issue is now with the thickness of the crust. It definitely needs to be much thinner, but I've about reached my limit of experimentation here. I'd love to be proven wrong, but at this point I don't think it's possible to produce a great cannele with silicone.

[lennyk]

my oven works best at 425 for 1 hour

silicone heat transfer will definitely be much slower than a metal mold

try higher temps, might have to cover the tops with foil early to avoid burning the tops

also more sugar to speed up the caramelization which forms the crust

another wild shot might be to use a pizza stone and preheat the over very hot so that the molds get hit quickly with a hot blast from the stone

how thin is the crust on a "real" copper mold cannele ?

[OldEnough]

how thin is the crust on a "real" copper mold cannele ?

←

That's an excellent question, and one I'd really appreciate seeing discussed here. Using copper molds my crust is about 4 to as much as 6 mm or about .16 to .24 of an inch which I think is a bit thick and would like to be able to thin down. As one of my young (12 years old) neighbours says "Ahhh, it's an artisanal product!"

I like your suggestion of a pizza stone even with the copper molds, but you would still need to put them on a baking sheet or something if you didn't want to ruin the stone. I, at least, get a lot of overflow of bees wax and butter when I bake mine.

[LittleIsland]

Has anyone tried coating the Nordicware moulds with beeswax, and how easy/difficult are they to clean?

I baked some canneles today in the Sweetheart Rose pan and they came out ok - crust was crisp at the beginning and then softened as time went by... but it wasn't the same kind of crunch (and lingering flavour) that I experienced with a bought cannele. So I'm getting ready to try the beeswax but also getting a little nervous in case my Nordicware pan gets wax permanently stuck in its crevices - I want to use it for other stuff too.

Also, baking the canneles in the Nordicware petit four moulds (about 1/10 cup capacity) resulted in very pretty pastries but with extremely thick crusts and virtually no custard left in the centres. Any advice on whether to reduce baking time or temperature, and by how much?

I'm using Paula Wolfert's recipe and baked for 1 hr 15 mins for the petit four sized canneles (obviously way too much) and 1 hr 10 mins today for the rose canneles (almost 1/2 cup capacity) which was about right (but the crisp crust did not last for as long as I expected).

Edited February 11, 2009 by LittleIsland (log)

[chefpeon]

I baked some canneles today in the Sweetheart Rose pan and they came out ok - crust was crisp at the beginning and then softened as time went by... but it wasn't the same kind of crunch (and lingering flavour) that I experienced with a bought cannele. So I'm getting ready to try the beeswax but also getting a little nervous in case my Nordicware pan gets wax permanently stuck in its crevices - I want to use it for other stuff too.

The wax gets mostly into the cannele and very little is left in the pan (if at all) when they are done. Cleanup with a little hot water and soap is all it takes.

I used my rose pan for canneles and tried it both with the wax and without. In my experimentation, with my recipe, I really couldn't tell the difference between the beeswaxed ones and the non-beeswaxed ones. Maybe you'll have a different result.

Also, baking the canneles in the Nordicware petit four moulds (about 1/10 cup capacity) resulted in very pretty pastries but with extremely thick crusts and virtually no custard left in the centres. Any advice on whether to reduce baking time or temperature, and by how much?

I recently made mini canneles in a petit four shaped flower pan. I baked higher for shorter time, but because the suckers were so small, you just don't get a good custard/crust ratio. It's the nature of the beast I guess.

[LittleIsland]

Thanks so much for the reply, Annie. Today I went ahead and used beeswax in the rose pan, and I can say the end result in terms of crust and flavour is very close to that of the bought cannele, miles better than yesterday's effort. I did increase the amount of rum also, by half again, but although that would have helped with the aroma, it would not have affected the texture. I think I will be using beeswax from now on. I didn't bother with the oil, just melted the beeswax with butter.

As I speak, the petit four sized canneles are baking (also with beeswax) - I am trying a shorter baking time. And I'll report back on whether the beeswax makes a difference in achieving a better crunch in the shorter time, thus allowing a thinner crust... I hope.

Although now with the improved version of the rose-size, it's not difficult at all to polish off a larger cannele... or two.

[LittleIsland]

Pleased to report the petit four size with the beeswax worked quite well. Nice crunch, and decent amount of custardy innards. The crust is thicker than I'd prefer, but as Annie mentioned, that's probably par for the course when using such small moulds. I like their bite size for sharing or giving away.

This time I baked them for 1hr (at 50 mins they were too light coloured), 1hr 5 mins and 1hr 10 mins - no huge difference between the canneles done at these different times. Considering yesterday's batch was baked for 1hr 15 mins and were extremely overdone, I'm thinking maybe the beeswax coating stopped the overcooking? Just speculation.

Photos tomorrow. I'm now a little cannele'd out from all that sampling.

[LittleIsland]

Ok here are the pics of the canneles made in the Nordicware rose pan with the beeswax coating - imparting a lovely sheen to the canneles that was not present with my first batch:

Here is a closer look at the inside:

And here are the petit four sized canneles (the Nordicware pan indicates about a 1/10 cup capacity):

And inside one of them:

The good thing about using the Nordicware pans is, I didn't have to season the pans. And, as Annie noted, the beeswaxed pans were not too difficult to clean at all. In my case, using Paula Wolfert's recipe, the resulting cannele is definitely superior to those baked without the beeswax.

[digito]

Hi,

I've tried to make canele for several times. first time it looks great. but after that, it always pop up so high, expanded, and stuck. I always baked at 180C/180C. maybe it's too low and I'm going to try 200 or 250C later.

another question is, just curious, why to chill the batter over night? what will happen if i don't chill it?

and when it comes out of the fridge, should I steer and mix the batter well. because there is a thick layer of butter floating on the batter.

thanks for your kindly reply

[jgarner53]

I've tried to make canele for several times. first time it looks great. but after that, it always pop up so high, expanded, and stuck. I always baked at 180C/180C. maybe it's too low and I'm going to try 200 or 250C later.

Try pouring less batter in the mold. And baking around 180C should be fine.

why to chill the batter over night? what will happen if i don't chill it?

and when it comes out of the fridge, should I steer and mix the batter well. because there is a thick layer of butter floating on the batter.

Chilling the batter helps the flour to hydrate thoroughly. Just whisk the batter well before you start pouring (and if you are doing a lot, whisk it occasionally as you continue to pour). You can leave the batter out for an hour or so before you want to bake. This will let the butter chunks soften up some so they are easier to whisk in; otherwise you risk having them floating on top after you've poured the cannelés.

[BaconKing]

Great thread!!! I've been experimenting with Caneles for a couple of months now and after trying several recipes and a couple dozen attempts; Paula Wolferts recipe is the best one out there, IMHO. However, I mix all the ingredients a little differently. Using three bowls, I mix the sugar, flour, and salt, in one bowl. Then I mix the egg yolks, rum, and vanilla in the second bowl. In the third bowl I pour the hot milk over the very cold butter. I mix the egg mixture into the the dry flour/sugar mix and then pour the Milk/Butter mix into the flour/egg mix. Let it cool down to room temp and chill for 48 hours.

The best Caneles for me were baking in a convection oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 65 minutes. I also preheat my baking sheet with the oven while is coming up to temp. I also coated my mold with a 1:1 weight ratio of Beeswax to Unsalted butter.

[LindaK]

BaconKing,

welcome to the eGullet forums! Those caneles look perfect, good crumb and crust both. It's a gorgeous debut post.

I need to find some canele molds and give them a try. There's a bakery near my house that makes decent caneles so I've had an excuse to be lazy about it. Plus I'm afraid of how many I'd eat.

[helenjp]

One of my students mentioned these in an essay (!) recently, piquing my interest.

I gather you an use silicon molds for these...has anybody tried that?

P.S. Oops, I see there is an extensive discussion starting p.3 of this topic.

Edited June 5, 2011 by helenjp (log)

[Anonymous Modernist 8324]

First off, I'd like to express my gratitude for the MC book. It's water in the desert for me. Up till now, my only trustworthy reading material was Harold Mcgee's and Hervé This' books. Exquisite job, people!

My question involves the gelatinisation of starch in flour.

A bit of context first.

In attempting to make the notoriously capricious little canelé, the constant problem I have is that the batter keeps popping out of the molds. Whether it's silicon or copper, it won't stay put. This gives an uneven color and even burns at times. I've done the resting period of 24,48,72 hours and they would still "misbehave". This got me to thinking about why the batter needs resting in the first place. I've looked at many recipes and found variations of quantity in ingredients, but the constant in all of them was the resting period. The problem is that nobody explains why this is so. One person mentioned fermentation, but I highly doubt that even factors into the why of the resting. This is where Harold Mcgee came in handy. He talks about gelatinisation of the starch in flour.

When I looked at the ingredients (whole milk, cake flour, sugar, rhum, eggs, vanilla) I was trying to pick which ones would expand with heat to a significant degree. If I factored in the inevitable small air pockets found in the batter, what else was going to contribute to the expansion. When flour is mixed with water, the starch starts to swell but only to about 30% of it's own weight. Add heat to this and the absorption rate increases making them bigger. So when the batter is resting in the fridge the starch is swelling, but it's limited. I imagine this is why there's a thicker sediment at the bottom and this requires a stirring once in a while. So after the resting period I pop them into the oven. I'm guessing the heat is increasing the swelling of the starch and may be contributing to the pushing out of the molds. How do I get around this?

Cook the flour.

I figured if I make a kind of béchamel and then mix in the rest of the ingredients, that would prevent the batter from expanding too much and making them pop out of the molds. I usually stop cooking until I get the thickest results before adding the rest of the ingredients. Seems to work, but I haven't done enough tests to confirm this method. My question is: Does cooking the flour into a sort of béchamel in order to get maximum gelatinisation of starch, compromise structure/texture/taste at the baking phase? Am I even on the right track as far as solving the expansion issue?

Thanks,

Robert

[coz]

Has anyone compared Anne Willan's Canele recipe to Paula Wolfert's?

[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?