Canelés
The first thing I need to say is that canelés are very easy to make, and have a simple list of ingredients. That is, perhaps, the surprising part. The second is rather more obvious, which is that they are delicious.
Canelés
Ingredients
- 250ml milk (NOT skimmed sugar water)
- 25g butter (unsalted)
- pinch of salt
- 0.5 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp dark rum
- 50g plain flour
- 125g caster sugar
- 1 medium egg plus 1 egg yolk
This quantity is just right for a single silicone mould of 18 miniature canelés (or 8 large canelés, but I only have the small mould).
First, boil the milk with the butter and salt. Take off the heat, stir in vanilla and rum. Then in a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, sugar, egg and egg yolk to make a thickish paste. Gradually beat in the hot milk mixture; you need to avoid the eggs curdling. This makes something between a pancake batter and a custard. Cover with cling film and chill for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 270C (250C fan), and brush the moulds with a little melted butter. Put the mould on a baking sheet to save a lot of mess later. Put the batter into a jug, and roughly 3/4 fill the moulds. There should be a little left over; it doesn’t matter much if you overfill, but if you do you’ll probably have some burnt overflowed batter.
Now put the baking sheet carrying the silicone mould in the oven. Leave it for five minutes, then turn the oven down to 180C (160C fan), and leave for a further hour. When done, the tops will appear dark brown. During baking, the canelés will puff up a lot, then shrink back down to their original size).
Leave to cool in the mould for ten minutes, then turn out. Best eaten warm on the day of baking, while the exterior is deliciously crisp and caramelly.