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A cannelé is a small French pastry flavored with rum and vanilla with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. Does that not sound like the perfect little snack?  It takes the shape of small, striated cylinder up to five centimeters in height with a depression at the top. Traditionally they are baked in copper moulds greased with beeswax.
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These extraordinary little confections are a specialty of Bordeaux, where nuns were said to have created them more than 200 years ago, using egg yolks that were donated by local winemakers who needed the egg whites to clarify their wines.

They contrast a crunchy caramelized exterior with a moist, custardy center.If you haven’t had them, cannelés are addictively good. Yes, the grandiose French treats with their flaky crusts, crèmes, and berries are spectacular and sophisticated. But cannelés are austere and lovely. They are off-sweet and perfect with a cup of coffee, tea, or even a glass of wine.

Makes 12 to 16 cannelés

Ingredients:

2 eggs + 2 yolks
30g / 2 tablespoons butter
500ml / 2 cups whole milk
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup pastry flour
3 tablespoons rum
1 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

 

The day before: boil the milk with the vanilla and butter
Take off the heat, allow to cool VERY slightly
Mix the flour and sugar together
Add the eggs and egg yolks, pour this mixture in the hot milk
Gently mix in order to obtain a fluid and smooth mixture, like a pancake batter, let it cool,  Add the rum
Place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours
When you are ready to bake the cannelés: preheat the oven to 250C/495°F
Butter the moulds liberally and then sprinkle some sugar in the moulds
Pour the batter in to the buttered and sugared cannelés moulds –  they should be 3/4 full – NO more
Place the moulds on a baking sheet, and cook on high for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 175C/350F and continue cooking for 1 hour at least. (It depends on your oven, it can take up to 1 and a quarter hours!)
The tops will have a brown crust when they are ready, and they should still be moist inside
Carefully unmould them whilst they are still hot
Allow them to cool
Enjoy!

Serve with tea or coffee or with a glass of wine or cognac in the late afternoon or evening

 

 

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