Canelés are from Bordeaux, in the southwest of France.

Canelés are small, almost mini bundt cakes with a rich, custardy interior enclosed by a thin caramelized shell.

Bordeaux is the city I studied at university in for 5 months, where I met my boyfriend, and his hometown. (I took the above photo while grabbing an espresso with some old university friends.)

For my birthday last year, he got me authentic copper molds.

Copper molds are more than just traditional,

they are the only way to get fluted lines around the edges of the pastry and a crisp outside. (Although, it is common to use silicone molds as well. They’re cheap, easy to use, and to clean.)

As I opened the giftbox, I realized it was going to be a lot of work. But the best things in life are, so full speed ahead.

Seasoning the Copper Molds

Copper molds, like copper pans, are the original non-stick. J’ADORE copper cookwear! It’s aesthetically pleasing (!) and more than that, HIGH PERFORMING. It’s safe to cook with up to 500° F and it’s free of nasty chemicals in cheap non-stick: PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PTFE (Polytetrafluoreothylene)

Before using new molds, they must be “seasoned.”

Start by washing the molds in soapy water (Do not scrub!) and dry immediately. Next, coat the inside of each mold with an oil that heats slowly (Crisco or vegetable oil) and a cloth or paper towel. Place them (with the open-end facing up) on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 360° F  (180° C)  for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and quickly turn the molds over (closed end up) and bake for another 15 minutes. Then turn off the oven, and let the molds remain inside for another 15 minutes. They will slowly return to room temperature. After the oil is completely cooled and dried, take a clean paper towel or soft cloth and wipe away the excess oil. Your molds are now ready to bake with!

Season your molds at least once or twice a year to maintain their effectiveness.

Making the Batter

The batter is the easiest part of making canelés. Like most of French cooking, the ingredients are simple but the process is advanced. Canelés are made from eggs, 50:50 flour and sugar, milk and a spot of rum.

There are many origin stories for the pastry.

One of the oldest refers to an ancient convent in the heart of Bordeaux, where the nuns prepared the cakes with donated egg yolks from local winemakers. The winemakers, you see, only used the whites to clarify the wines. Any records that might verify this story were lost in the turbulent French Revolution, thus the story has turned to legend.

Another tale tells of how the residents of Bordeaux, who lived along the docks, collected extra low-protein flour from the merchants. They then used it to make sweets for poor children. The small canelé molds were nestled in embers to be baked.

Canelés de Bordeaux

Makes 15 (I halved a larger recipe)

Ingrédients

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon (1/8 stick) butter

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise -OR- I use 1-1.5 tsp fine vanilla extract -OR- 1-1.5 tsp. vanilla paste

6 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 eggs

2 tbsp + 2 tsp dark rum

1. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean, add bean. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove bean.

-OR-

For a quickie: In a bowl or tall glass, combine milk, butter, and vanilla extract. Warm in microwave until all ingredients are melted together. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sift together the dry ingredients. Whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Strain milk-vanilla mixture through a wire mesh collander into a large mixer bowl; discard long vanilla bean husk. Attach to mixer with a wire wisk, little by little add in eggs to combine. Add rum.

4. On low, gently whisk in flour mixture until blended. Strain batter through a wire mesh collander into another medium bowl.

5. Let batter cool to room temperature, uncovered. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.

Coating the Molds

Coat the inside of each copper mold with a 50/50 beeswax and butter mixture.I bought my beeswax at Whole Foods, I’m sure you can find it online as well. Just make sure the beeswax is food grade, unscented, not dyed or bleached, etc. You can use butter but I recommend Ghee. Ghee is butter that has been clarified past the smoking point, making it usable at up to 400° F. It’s gotten pretty common. I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s.

Coating the inside of your molds with bee’s wax and butter will allow your canelés to form a nice crisp exterior with fluted edges.

Melt together your beeswax and butter using a 1:1 ratio in a saucepan over medium-low heat on the stove. 30 grams to 30 grams (60 grams total) is good to start with. I start with medium heat and once it starts to be largely melted, I drop the heat to low. Once your mix is completely melted you can get your molds (use room temperature molds). Prepare a cooling rack with parchment/newspaper underneath to catch any melted wax. Your house will smell amazing btw!

Coat the inside of each mold with the mixture. My favorite technique is to pour the warmed wax/butter mixture into one mold, filling it to the top, then quickly pouring the mixture back into the saucepan. Flip open-side down onto the cooling rack. You should now have an even wax coating on the inside of your mold. Any excess wax can drip down onto the parchment/newspaper. Repeat for each mold. Let cool to about room temperature and place the molds in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill. This will help make a crisp outside while keeping the inside soft and spongy.

Time to Bake

Pre-heat your oven to 450° F (232° C). Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil.

Remove the molds from the freezer and the batter from the fridge. Stir the batter before filling each mold 3/4 full. Place the molds on the baking sheet and bake at 450° F (232° C) for the first 15 minutes then reduce to 375° F (190° C) for the remaining 45 minutes.

If the canelés start to look like mini-souffles and poof out of the molds, take the tray out of the oven and let cool/shrink down.

You can tell when they are done, because the outside of the canelés will look crisp and carmelized. Be sure the insides are fully baked.

When they look baked, remove from oven. Using an oven mitt, flip each mold and the pastry should pop out of the mold onto the cooling rack. If they’re a little stuck, you can GENTLY use a wooden tootpick to losen the sides.

Let cool and serve (maybe with an espresso!)

I’m going to be honest, this is one of the most difficult recipes I have in my arsenal. I’ve made it four times and without any disasters. But they can easily happen! Just pay attention, read ahead, and use common baking sense.

Like any recipe, you’ll find ways to do things more effectively. The coating technique I described is new and I just started doing it the last time I baked. I used to use a different technique, more like painting on the hot wax with a brush. I ended up burning my fingertips every time- the molds get hot!

I’m also waiting for these to be on the Great British BakeOff.

Making these are so special to me, so I’m happy I could share them with you.

Bon App’