Tortine · Caramelised crust

Rum and vanilla canelés 🍨

Name: Rum and vanilla canelés 🍨
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 13 h 20 min
Yield: 12 canelés
Ingredients: 400 g whole milk; 30 g unsalted butter; 100 g all-purpose flour (Italian 00) (see note below); 150 g granulated sugar; 2 g salt; 1 egg (about 50 g, at room temperature); 2 egg yolks (about 30 g, at room temperature); 10 g vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla pod) (I used a vanilla pod, but extract works perfectly); 30 g dark rum (essential: do not leave it out)

Little cakes from Bordeaux with a dark, crunchy crust and a soft, almost custardy centre, scented with rum and vanilla. They are usually baked in copper moulds with beeswax, but they turn out beautifully in a non-stick mould with a thin layer of butter. The batter takes minutes to make: the real secret is the long rest in the fridge.

Prep20 min

Rest12–48 h in the fridge

Baking1 h

Oven220 → 180 °C

Quantity

Mold used: Non-stick canelé mould with 12 cavities. See where to buy it ↗ (affiliate link)

Makes 12 canelés

Ingredients

400 g whole milk 30 g unsalted butter 100 g all-purpose flour (Italian 00) (see note below) 150 g granulated sugar 2 g salt 1 egg (about 50 g, at room temperature) 2 egg yolks (about 30 g, at room temperature) 10 g vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla pod) (I used a vanilla pod, but extract works perfectly) 30 g dark rum (essential: do not leave it out)

This amount is perfect for a 12-cavity mould: fill each cavity to 70% (about 60 g of batter). If you use a weak cake flour, use 120 g, or mix cake flour and bread flour 1:1.

Bring the eggs to room temperature

Take the egg and yolks out of the fridge at least 1 hour before. If you are in a hurry, leave them in lukewarm water for 10 minutes: they must not be cold.

Warm the milk and butter

Warm the milk with the butter until the butter has melted. Take it off the heat: the milk must be lukewarm, not hot, or it will cook the eggs. If you use a vanilla pod, split it lengthways, scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk together with the pod while it warms; remove the pod before adding the milk to the eggs.

Make the batter

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. In another bowl, crack the egg and yolks and stir them with a spatula, without whisking. Pour the warm milk over the eggs a little at a time, stirring gently, then add everything to the dry ingredients. Add the rum and, if you are using extract, the vanilla. Finally, strain the batter through a sieve: this step matters, because it removes lumps and air bubbles before the rest.

The less air you add, the better: bubbles make canelés puff up in the oven and bake unevenly.

Rest it in the fridge

Cover the bowl and let the strained batter rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours, up to 48. Resting deepens the flavour and helps the canelés not to puff up too much.

Prepare the moulds and the oven

Brush the mould with soft butter, getting into every groove, and chill it in the fridge until firm. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220 °C for 20 minutes.

Fill the moulds

Gently stir the batter, which separates a little while resting, and pour it into the cold moulds, filling them only to 70% (about 60 g per cavity).

If you fill them more, the batter rises out of the mould and the base will not caramelise.

First bake at 220 °C

Put them in the oven and bake at 220 °C for 30 minutes.

Second bake at 180 °C

Lower the oven to 180 °C and bake for another 30 minutes, until the crust is dark and glossy. If the bases look like they are getting too dark, cover them with a sheet of foil.

Take them out

Unmould the canelés while still warm and let them cool on a wire rack: the crust turns crunchy as they cool.

What I used

Equipment

The exact reference images, so there is no “wait, which one should I buy?” moment.

✦

Sofi’s tips

Small details,
great result.

01Air fryer: preheat to 200 °C for 10 minutes, then bake for 25 minutes at 200 °C and 25 minutes at 160 °C. If you cover them with foil, secure it well or the air will blow it away.

02Silicone moulds: at the end of baking, unmould the canelés and put them back at 180 °C for 5–10 minutes, so the sides get crunchy too.

03The rum is essential: it gives canelés their signature aroma, so do not leave it out or reduce it. The same goes for the sugar, which creates the caramelised crust. The vanilla, on the other hand, works either as a pod or as extract.

04They are best on the day they are made: after that they soften. Seal any leftovers in a bag straight away and freeze them. To serve, leave them 20 minutes at room temperature, then warm for 3–5 minutes at 180 °C in the oven or air fryer.

Recipe inspired by Gom’s Baking (YouTube)

A recipe by

Sofia Lorini

Creator of Sofidrinkini

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