Serves a Crowd

Canneles

by:
July  4, 2009
4.8
4 Ratings
  • Makes about 15
Author Notes

Best. Dessert. Ever.

I first had canneles in the town of St. Emilion, in Bordeaux (where there is literally a cannele shop on every street, and the scent of vanilla-rum wafts through the air), and quickly fell in love with them. I was living in France at the time and was working for a woman who taught cooking classes and had her teach me how to make them. I've tweaked that recipe quite a bit and turned it into what it the best cannele recipe of all time. In all my years of cannele eating, I have yet to find a cannele better than this one.

Cannele molds are available at specialty kitchen stores like Sur La Table. The metal molds will yield a slightly crispier product, but the silicone ones are easier to clean and don't require greasing. —Lauren Shockey

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup good quality dark rum (I generally use Meyers)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups milk with the vanilla extract and butter. Bring just to a boil over the stove or in the microwave.
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup of milk and blend well. Whisk in the first milk mixture along with the melted butter. Set aside to cool.
  3. Add the sugar, flour, and rum to the milk mixture. Whisk vigorously so that there are no clumps remaining. Let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
  4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and whisk again. Pour mixture into cannele molds about 3/4 of the way to the top.
  5. Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes (sometimes it takes as long as an hour and a half depending on your oven). Remove from the oven when the tops are dark brown (if it's been an hour and a half and the tops still aren't brown, cook longer). Let cool, then remove from molds.
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Lauren Shockey
Lauren Shockey is a New York City-based food writer and author of the cookbook Hangover Helper as well as the culinary memoir Four Kitchens. Previously the restaurant critic at the Village Voice, she has written for such publications as The New York Times, Travel + Leisure and the Wall Street Journal.

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3 Reviews

zonker
zonker April 9, 2011
i've been seeking a recipe for these for a while. this one is great! thank you!!
 
gluttonforlife
gluttonforlife April 22, 2010
I just came across this recipe and am so excited as I love these little cakes! Balthazar Bakery in New York City makes delicious ones. I may have to give these a whirl...
 
dymnyno
dymnyno January 6, 2010
I too, love caneles...I also first tried them in St Emilion in the Bordeaux. I tried the recipes in every cookbook that I could find...too many to mention! The best was from La Boulangerie..and then I discovered as I read the book jacket that he had a shop in San Francisco (about an hour away). So after investing in copper molds etc. I found that I could BUY the best caneles that I have ever tasted! The experience of making my own was priceless and I am glad that I did it...however...