Canelés

A small French pastry, flavoured with rum and vanilla. The moist and tender centre is surrounded by a thick and darkly caramelised crust. You'll find the canelé moulds required for this dish at specialist kitchen equipment stores.

Canelés Credit: Andy Baker

• makes

  20

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 500 ml (2 cups) milk
• 25 g butter
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped
• 140 g plain flour
• 240 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 ml rum
• 180 g clarified butter, melted

Chilling time: overnight

You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead.

Instructions

1. Place the milk, butter, vanilla bean seeds and scraped bean into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring until the butter is completely melted. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Place the flour and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the egg and yolk and whisk into a smooth paste. Add the rum and whisk until well combined. Strain the hot milk, then whisk into the batter until well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
3. Place the clarified butter into as many moulds as you have, swirling to coat the entire mould. Brush the moulds with a pastry brush to make sure the butter is evenly coated. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
4. Preheat a fan forced oven to 210°C. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and stir well.
5. Place the coated moulds on a baking tray and fill them with the batter, leaving a 5 mm gap from the top of the mould. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and cook for another 45 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and while still very hot, carefully turn out the canelés onto a cooling rack and allow to cool before serving.

 

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.