Tonka Bean Canelé
A Canelé is a very traditional small French pastry that is characterized by a soft, custardy centre with a deeply caramelised shell. The result is a pastry that is almost pudding like, with a melt in your mouth centre and a crunchy, very slightly chewy caramelised crust.
In a nutshell- dangerously good and wayyy too easy to eat a whole batch in a sitting. Proceed with caution. You’ve been warned.
While a canelé is not really difficult in terms of its process, there are two key aspects that can make them a little challenging to make- canelé moulds and oven management.
First things first, let’s talk about the moulds.
Now, traditionally, they’re baked using copper moulds that are lined with beeswax. Bear in mind, they’re expensive, though they do last for a long time. So if making canelé on the reg is something you’re going for, I’d highly recommend investing in a few of those. On the flipside, if you don’t want to shell out a lot on the copper moulds, this canelé tray from Le Creuset is what I use and honestly, it gives fantastic results! The shell is beautifully caramelised and crunchy and chewy each time. They’re definitely much more affordable and while I was linking the link for you, I found out they’re currently on 50% sale. This is not sponsored by the way.
The last option available I guess is a canelé silicon mould but I’d stay clear of them. They’re not great and won’t give you the same results.
Once you got the right equipment, next factor to consider is heat management. You wanna start off high- we bake them at 230°C for 12 mins first and then drop the temp down. The reason is that you want to “shock” the mix to start rising, but also encourage for the shells to caramelise and form a crust. They do take a while to bake so be patient.
Another thing I’ve discovered recently is to use a pre-heated baking tray to bake the canelé tray on, instead of placing the tray directly on the rack. This allows for more rapid heat transfer, speeding up the baking process. Plus, if you’re struggling with white tops on your canelé (or “cul blanc” as they say), then this is going to be helpful.
I guess the last thing to mention is aging the custard mix. I’ve always aged my custard for 24-48 hours before baking, but this time around I tried to bake a few straightaway to see if it made any difference. When baked immediately, the interior crumb is a lot more open, with significantly larger air pockets- almost hollow in some parts. The crust is still caramelised but I’d argue it’s not as crunchy as when baked the next day. In my opinion, if you have the luxury of time, I’d suggest to age the custard before baking.
That’s really it. The rest is pretty simple. Hope you enjoy these. I wish I could say I’ve had my fill of these after eating basically most of the batch by myself, but I could easily gobble down another batch. But I shouldn’t because these are addictive. So instead, I’ll pass it down to you to enjoy. xx
Recipe
Serve: 9 canelé
Ingredients
For the canelé:
300g full fat milk
30g unsalted butter, cubed
78g icing sugar
78g caster sugar
54g plain flour
pinch of salt
50g whole eggs ~ approx. 1 large egg
34g egg yolks ~ approx. 2 eggs
25ml Rum or Cognac
1/4 tsp grated tonka bean
Method
Make a day in advance: In a large bowl, sift together the icing sugar, caster sugar, plain flour and salt.
Add the whole eggs and yolks. Whisk until well combined and the mixture resembles a thick batter.
In a small pot, add the milk and butter. Place over high heat and bring to a quick boil, stirring occasionally.
Add the milk to the egg mix in three parts, whisking well after each addition.
Lastly, add the rum and grated tonka bean and whisk to combine well.
Strain the mixture into a measuring jug. Refrigerate for 24 hours. (This can be stored for up to 4 days in the fridge.)
The next day: Place a heavy duty baking tray (I use steel) inside the oven. Preheat oven to 230°C (fan-forced) for 30-45 minutes.
5 mins before baking, prepare your mould. Brush a canelé tray with soft butter. Make sure to brush the butter as vertically as possible to get straight canelés. Freeze for 5 mins or until the butter hardens and sets.
Pour 70-75g of canelé mix into each cavity or until three-quarter way full.
Place the canelé tray on top of the preheated baking tray. Bake at 230°C for 12 mins. Drop the temperature down to 180°C and bake for another 38-40 mins or until deep golden brown in colour. You want them to be nice and dark. Keep an eye on them at the 47 mins mark. If they are already dark in colour, you can remove them at this point.
Flip the tray to remove them while they’re still hot. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before digging in. Bon appetite!
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