Another canele batch and this time right on

One thing I discovered about these pastries is that going from acceptable to over done is easy to do. A couple,of things if anyone is interested - they usually rise up and by thirty minutes if they have popped up above the mold rim they should look partially caramelized - of they are dark brown by this point you're probably dealing with toddlers. Also they need to be shoved back down and in say 'shoved' because its ok to get aggressive with them - they should be rather spongy and as such need some inward pressure to ensure they make it past the rim and back down into the mold. If they don't get pushed down all the way the tops do not cook (as can be seen in some,of these). Another recommendation - at the last 25 minute portion of the bake it doesn't hurt to extract one and study it - check to see if its almost done and re-insert to gauge if 5, 0 or more time is needed. From there get ready to binge coz they are delicious !

I hate to admit that I have never had a canele, even though I have relatives that live in France. Could you post a recipe?

The traditional recipe calls for rum but this uses and recommends a blend of rum and grand marnier. As mentioned be careful not to overcook I can post a picture later of the 30 minute mark to give an idea of progression and color. When they are between light and dark brown they incroiable - https://youtu.be/yfklt2KQ0x4

Here is a single (the last of the batter in one mould) at 30 minites at 410f - notice the caramelization has begun - at this point it has risen, actually levitated above the rim and won't cook the top of the pastry since it is not in contact with the tin. I have found that you can use a glove to rotate and squeeze inwards and down to ensure contact with the tin and if that happens for the remaining 25 minutes at 380f the top should brown enough. What fun is you can try different flavors of liquor - I'm an starting to think a pastis say pernod or ricard might be a good one, problem is my wife can't stand it - hmmm, that maybe an oh-well all for me bake :)

so I am with your wife on that. A grand marnier or a cointreau is more my style.

From my parents liquor cabinet as a teen - a bit,of,a,late confession but how can you resist its warm and delicious and tastes like heaven !

to people who can smell it. Curious what your reactions and others will be.

(how did this reply get way up here? supposed to come after the latest "beeswax" post down the page)

Or Floyd gave your posts more power - may be you have the force ! Who knows computers rule is and we better not mess with them. As for the wax (which came directly from a hive) check latest post / bake. I can smell the honey scent but cannot taste it. The texture of The crust has improved (in my opinion) and only a small amount of it I can distinguish the ones without and the ones with just by the crust consistency. Its more like a toffee but overall very nice addition and works well with this pastry :)

...in the proverbial. I usually fill to just 5mm below the rim and that works fine, but if I let the batter warm too much after its 24-hour rest, it gets a little too enthusiastic and the muffin-tops appear. I now return the batter to the fridge between batches.Try infusing the batter with orange zest, it gives the Grand Marnier a real boost. Lemongrass-infused are excellent too. That said, don't offer fancy flavored canelés to anyone from Bordeaux. I've learnt most emphatically that they're very traditional in these matters. I've noticed that canelés have become fashionable in New York, so expect them to become ubiquitous worldwide soon.

Have you mastered the white oil yet? It's the one advantage the ridiculously over-priced copper moulds have over silicone.

Regarding the muffin tops - batter performs much better cold including the interior. Although I never visited Bordeaux I can only imagine ! As for the white oil aka butter and beeswax that's next on the agenda and should have some wax on Wednesday (parents have a few hives ) actually my mother tried it last weekend reporting it was not good but then again she didn't mix with butter. Los angeles, much like NYC is just the same way - very faddy, especially with these sorts of items where it is more a right to brag that people are in tune with obscure food items. A few years ago it was absinthe which funny enough as a pastis lover I had several bottles of it stashed before they even legalized the stuff - its a real crack up watching the foodies go nuts for certain things. All I know is that there's a never ending world of incredible food items out there, the more you can make yourself the better !

Fyi baking a batch right now with the 'white oil' beeswax mixture - will see soon how they turn out ...

I can't stand seeing pictures of these delicious items without having at least a dozen to gobble down. If you keep this up then I expect you to pack up and ship me a box full. :)

But I'm sure you would prefer fresh ones and a few more pics you'll,be online ordering molds :)

Just placed my order with Golda's Kitchen. I ordered six of the aluminum molds, and a 15-mold silicone one. Stay tuned...

Can't wait - this is such a great pastry it's so easy and nice to be able to produce something so good without all the timing and nuances with bread (not to say I don't like bread it's just a nice change of gear). Did you get the small of large size ? Small iis about 5-6cm - and btw good call on the aluminum. If you can source beeswax I highly recommend it - mix about 25-33% into melted butter the let it solidify and brush into the molds. They come out soft then harden which is when you want to eat them and eventually soften up again and begin to deteriorate so eat em fast !

Really!!! The nerve of some people! All that scrumption and I'm stuck in some monsoon tropical swirly cloud action.

I'm wondering if I can use extra strength alu-foil wrapped over some fancy whipping cream plastic caps hereabouts to make some moulds. I could just grab a dozen coffee cups from the canteen but would be missing the "fancy" part.

Are the centre indentations for filling? A nut or a dab of chocolate cream?

A muffin tin... do you put hot water between the two moulds?

www.chefsteps.com has a whole set of variations shapes and fillings including a chocolate filled one. Knowing your skill level and considering that honestly this is not a hard item - the few pointers I posted are not major hurdles this is a no brainer for you - breads and viennoise are about 10 times trickier - this is a great item to knock out (especially if you've had a few mediocre bakes)

Yours look just like the ones displayed in shops! Well done!

If you see them in the shops why not grab a few - one thing that is quite amazing is how well the crust forms and caramelized during baking - there's a ton of sugar that somehow does not over sweeten the pastry - may be the alcohol minimizes the sweetness but it seems that it all gravitates to the crust. My boys love these and remarked that you can't eat just the crust or just the inside - that you need to get both in each bite - for that reason I like the small molds - bouchon is a fancy bakery here that sells them and the bigger they are the more interior. So if you do make them just a suggestion, the smallest molds are great (they are about 5-6cm in height)

Have you checked out this blog / recipe / instructions? I don't usually like baking in silicon pans, but I wonder if they would work better or as well as the tin or steel ones? Decisions, decisions...

The tip about turning them upside down in the pans for the last 10 minutes is interesting!

I want to jump in and say that I have watched many videos of,silicone mold versions and just judging by what I have seen the silicone seem to be just ok. Almost every video that shows the end product seems to be mis-shaped and inconsistent caramelization and often times sort of deflated. For that reason I would avoid them. I just so happened to pass an aisle a couple weeks ago at sur la table and saw 5 mini aluminum molds and snatched two so that I could run tests - to my delight I felt that result was very close to high quality caneles and so would highly encourage you to at least go for aluminum. After batch one indent back a week later and snatched the remaining 3. I'm sure silicone is great if you haven't ever had canele before but if you have already a taste and your expectations have already been preset then I would rather have a couple of metal ones verses a 12x silicone mold. And now to watch the vids ...