Every time I see a canelé I have a canelé. So when I was in France last summer I had a canelé or two. And then I saw the canelé molds in the supermarché. And promptly forgot about how hard everyone says they are to make. More so in silicone molds.

So here I was, back from France, with a silicone canelé mold and a panic attack. But I had laid my bed, so now I had to lay in it (and give myself an excuse to finally get a sugar thermometer).

Kitchn to the rescue

I was terrified to make these, but because I was scared I finally didn’t fuck up a bake! I followed the recipe from Kitchn to a tee, and that’s been my saving grace with these delicious assholes ever since.

Keep in mind that this is a process of days, not hours.

Sorry, silicone only

To retain my sanity I will only be sharing the recipe for silicone mold canelés here. Refer to the Kitchn for the copper mold versions, which seem like a lot more of a nuisance and are also a lot more pricey.

Fool proof canelés Bordelais from a silicone mold

Dorothy Porker

These French custardy rum and vanilla classics are a handful and require a lot of equipment and time, but they're totally worth the effort.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Resting time 2 days d

Course Birthdays, Dessert, Party snack

Cuisine French

Servings 12 (ish) canelés

Equipment

• Silicone canelé mold - usually holds 6 to 8 canelés
• Pastry brush
• Freezer
• Saucepan
• Candy thermometer
• Food processor
• Fine sieve
• Container with lid
• Oven
• Measuring cup, optional

Ingredients

  

• canola oil for brushing the molds, do NOT substitute
• 1 vanilla pod
• 2 c - 500 ml whole milk
• 2 T - 30 gr butter chilled and diced
• 3/4 c - 150 gr cake flour OR
• 1 c - 125 gr all purpose flour AND
• 1 T - 15 gr corn flour see instructions
• pinch salt skip if using salted butter
• 3/4 c+2 T - 180 gr superfine or baker's sugar if you can't find this, run your sugar through the food processor before using
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 T - 15 ml dark rum
• 1 t - 5 ml vanilla extract

Instructions

 

How to make your own cake flour

• If you cannot find cake flour mix 1 c - 125 gr of plain flour with 1 T - 15 gr of corn flour. Note you will have some extra cake flour leftover after making the canelés.

One or two days ahead of schedule: prep the molds and batter

• Brush your silicone molds with canola oil and place them in the freezer. This helps with the crunchy outer layer of the canelés.
• Rinse a heavy-bottomed saucepan with cold water, set over a low heat and add 2 c - 500 ml of milk. Split 1 vanilla pod and add to the milk. Heat slowly to a 83° C/ 183° F on a candy thermometer.
• While the milk is slowly heating, place 2 T - 30 gr of chilled and diced butter, 3/4 c - 150 gr of cake flour and a pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse until well combined. Scatter 3/4c +2 T - 180 gr of sugar on top and pulse again until mixed.
• Add 4 egg yolks and pulse again until the mixture begins to tighten and sort of resemble a dough.
• Once the milk has reached 83° C/ 183° F, remove the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the milk. Discard the pod.
• With the food processor on pulse, quickly and steadily pour the hot milk into the mixture in the food processor and pulse until fully combined. Don’t be alarmed: it will look like a very thin custard or pancake batter.
• Strain the batter through a fine sieve into a clean container, pressing any congealed yolk through. Throw out whatever remnants you can't press through the sieve.
• Stir in 1 T - 15 ml of rum and 1 t - 5 ml of vanilla extract and leave to cool uncovered until it has reached room temperature.
• Cover and refrigerate 24-48 hours. This is necessary for the development of the gluten. The more patience you have with this the better the results.

Baking day!

• Preheat your oven to 400° F/ 200° C.
• Stir the batter, move to a measuring cup for an easier pour and fill the chilled molds halfway.
• Place on the lowest oven rack and bake until the cannelés are a deep brown color, this can take anywhere between 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• Remove from oven and leave to cool inside the molds for at least 15-30 minutes so they retain their shape.
• If you have any leftover batter, leave the oven on, give the molds a quick brush with additional canola oil and bake the remainder of the batter.

Notes

Supposedly they are best eaten between 1 and 5 hours after baking. Personally I find 1 to 2 hours to be the max.

You can freeze them for roughly 3 months and reheat them in the oven at 400° F/ 200° C for 5 minutes, but nothing really beats a barely cooled fresh canelé from the oven.

Keyword caneles, custard, french, french pastry, pastry, pattiserie, rum