Canelé with cardamom crème anglaise — Canelé, crème anglaise à la cardamone

January 20, 2006

There are many good reasons why I love winter.

  1. First, I come from a cold area in France, so I am used to it. J’suis une fille du Nord!
  2. Then I love snow. Yes I said it, to the horror of my friend Pato (Quack !Quack!) from Argentina. Let me tell you how much she hates snow!
  3. And I love winter sports, skiing and snow shoeing, and surely enough, living in New England gives you plenty of that.

In winter, Nature reveals a beauty that makes me feel very alive. Cold helps too , it is a fact. You cannot avoid feeling the cold in New England winters. It can be just in your face.

While in the French Alps over the Christmas break, I took those shots on one of our walks. It was beautiful that day, bitterly cold too.

This is defining the winter context for the topic of today.

Like many things, there is always a reason why we people like one particular thing and not another. If I like winter and cold so much, it is because I like the after time, the time after the harshness, the time after the cold, the time to replenish with great warm drinks and comfort food. And there are many things that can define that, the ideal comfort food. Fred from the beautiful blog Frais reveals her comfort food secrets, with a nice Tarte tatin à l’oignon et au chèvre, (Tarte tatin with goat cheese and onions). Just looking at her tart picture warms me up!

On a cold day in the mountains (or in New England, as all New Englanders know, we do get snow just around here!), my comfort food after a nice walk out could just be as simple as sipping a hot chocolate, like this appetizing one shown by Viv at Seattle Bon Vivant, or a nice hot lemon/honey/ginger drink. But I would be a little bit too reasonable if I did not add that with this, there cannot not be food involved. But for this topic, the options are plentiful. You just have to look at those beautiful apples from Nicky and Oliver at Delicious Days to understand the vital side of comfort food! It feels just so good and right.

In the South-West of France, there is a star , call it a gem, that I like. In Bordeaux, this gem has a place of recognition. This star has a name, and for those who do not know them yet, let me introduce you to les canelés.

Canelés

I am not from Bordeaux but I love canelés. How to describe the eating experience of a canelé? Chewy, a touch of caramel flavour for the crust, feeling fragrant fresh vanilla with a beautiful touch of rum, and so moist inside. This is just the kind of pastry I love. In many ways, it reminds me a lot of one of my favorites of all, le clafoutis aux cerises (cherry flan is the closest translation I find) (or my plum version here). Oddily enough, I discovered canelés in New Zealand and not while living in France. I lived in Wellington where there was (probably still there?) a French bakery called Bordeaux. As the name indicates, the baker working there is from Bordeaux, and while living miles away from the nest, he took with him the required skills to bake his little canelés. That surely made me happy! And so, because I was a good customer of the bakery, I also became a canelé addict.

While living in the US, finding the right molds to make those little treats was a bit of a challenge. I could have ordered them on line, (Mauviel Copper Canele Mold is a good choice) , I decided to take a shortcut and ordered them directly from a bakery in Bordeaux. I first started with small silicone ones but it is really not the same as using copper molds, which I strongly recommend. When my molds arrived, I could not hide my happiness and enthusiasm for long. I rushed to the store right away to get all the required goodies to make my canelés. Once this was accomplished, I came home to only realize the following : I would need to wait until the following day to be able to rediscover the lovely flavour left in my mouth after eating a canelé. Indeed those little treats are so special that they require resting time before spending time in the oven to be baked. My enthusiasm had me missed one important step. Read the recipe until the end before doing anything!

And so without waiting more, let me share with you the recipe I got, from that same pastry in Bordeaux:

Canelé with cardamom crème anglaise

You need:

For the Canelé Batter:

  • ½ l milk
  • 2 vanilla beans
  • 250 g sugar (I use less, about 180g)
  • 125 g flour
  • 6 egg yolks (I have tried with 4 too)
  • 50 g butter
  • 50 ml rum

For the Cardamom crème anglaise

  • 1/2 l milk
  • 7 cardamom pods
  • 50 g sugar
  • 2 egg yolks

Steps:

  • To prepare the cardamom cream, start by boiling the milk with the cardamom pods.
  • Filter it.
  • Mix together the egg yolks and sugar until very white.
  • Add to the milk, stirring constantly.
  • Place on heat again and slowing thicken the preparation without making it boil. It thickens slowly. Make sure not to boil!
  • Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, describing circular movements.
  • To prepare the canelés, you need to plan it on two days. The first day, start by bringing the milk to a boil with the vanilla beans. Let the beans infuse.
  • Mix together the flour and sugar.
  • Add the egg yolks and mix well.
  • Add the milk to this preparation.
  • Add butter and rum.
  • Place in a bowl in the fridge overnight.
  • The next day, preheat the oven at 425F.
  • Mix the preparation together. Grease the moulds with butter.
  • Fill them with the preparation (not right at the top as they rise and fall back again).
  • Let them cook for about 1 hour. Check regularly (you might prefer them less dark, but be assured that the dark colour does not affect the moist inside.
  • Remove from the molds when still hot and let them cool down.

    • EAT! One of my favorite afternoon comfort food on a cold day in winter.

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    Tagged as: Breakfast , Cakes , Dessert , French Inspired
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    31 Comments »

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    1. Bea,

      I worship you! this recipe … incredible! INCREDIBLE!!! And the photos are amazing … you are a goddess of the kitchen!

      (And stop teasing me about the gougeres post … I’m getting very hungry!)

      Comment by Ivonne — On January, 20th, 2006 at 2:08 am

    2. La crème anglaise à la cardamonne est un véritable délice, que j’ai découvert le weekend dernier!

      Comment by kitchenette — On January, 20th, 2006 at 2:20 am

    3. Hello Bea,
      I love Cannelle, my sister in law introduce me this pastry when we were in Bordeaux some years ago.
      I can’t find them here in Britanny, just last year my favorite supermarket have them but just for a short period. I have bought my “moule” of cannelle so i will try your recipes. Thanks for that!
      Serve warm with ice cream mmmm… regale!!

      Comment by relly — On January, 20th, 2006 at 2:33 am

    4. ooopss sorry “canelé” and not cannelle which is cinnamon LOL

      Comment by relly — On January, 20th, 2006 at 2:34 am

    5. They are so addictive. I love the taste, the texture. J’adore!!

      Comment by flo — On January, 20th, 2006 at 3:44 am

    6. Hi Bea,
      I’m Cannele obsessed! Your version looks wonderful. Plus your photos are lovely!
      Great post,
      Melissa

      Comment by Melissa — On January, 20th, 2006 at 6:16 am

    7. Your version sounds great! The canele that I had here was quite bland.
      I’m from Hawaii, but love the cold. It is way better than the humid summers of Japan!!

      Comment by Kat — On January, 20th, 2006 at 6:36 am

    8. I love winter too! I think if you love to cook and love to eat, the winter is the time to do that.

      Strangely enough, I bought some of these mini cannelés at the store yesterday and had to pop one in my mouth with my after-lunch coffee. I thought, how do they make these?

      Then you came to my blog and left me a comment so I thought I’d check yours out… It must have been the cannelé!

      Thanks for the comment on my blog!

      p.s. the photos are all fa-bu-lous!!

      Comment by Anne — On January, 20th, 2006 at 9:56 am

    9. I love canelés and yours looks very very very delicious…

      Love
      Fanny

      Comment by fanny from FOODBEAM — On January, 20th, 2006 at 12:47 pm

    10. Whoaaa those are gorgeous. I LOVE canneles, but unfortunately I’ve only had it once! No, HALF of once; I shared it with my mum! But it was sooo good. Not many places sell them, unfortunately. :|

      Comment by Robyn — On January, 20th, 2006 at 12:59 pm

    11. absolutely beautiful!! and i’m sure they are as delish as they look.

      Comment by ptinfrance — On January, 20th, 2006 at 1:44 pm

    12. These look really interesting, like a tastier pudding version of creme caramel!
      It seems everything that comes out of Bordeaux is tasty!

      Comment by GastroChick — On January, 20th, 2006 at 1:55 pm

    13. Hi Ivonne,

      Well not so much of a goddess really ;-) Hungry, yes!

      Hi kitchenette,

      Oui la crème anglaise à la cardamone, c’est si bon, n’est-ce pas ?

      Hi Relly,

      Great news. Try the recipe. It is yummie and fun to make.

      Hi Flo,

      Ah yes I am addicted myself.

      Hi Melissa,

      Thanks for your nice note. Do you have another recipe? Have you tried them before?

      Hi Kat,

      Try those ones, I think you will like them!

      Hi Anne,

      Thanks for stopping by and your nice comment. Funny coincidence indeed. It had to happen this way!!

      Hi Fanny,

      Thanks for your sweet note. They looked good but they were good too! ;-)

      Hi Robyn,

      Wow, you are a good daughter to share your canele, how could you? ;-)

      Hi Ptinfrance,

      Merci bien. Do they equal the galette I saw on your blog? ;-)

      Hi Gastrochick,

      Ah yes, the crème caramel. Probably also close to thick flan. Really hard to describe. Maybe someone else who has had them can describe the taste. I am sure you could find them in London. Otherwise, Paris is close on the train! ;-)

      Thanks all for your comments

      Bea

      Comment by Béa — On January, 20th, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    14. i’ve never even heard of them but i think i fell in love at first site!

      Comment by darla — On January, 20th, 2006 at 10:30 pm

    15. Bea!
      I use Pierre Herme’s recipe….do you want me to ‘e’ you the recipe?
      Melissa

      Comment by Melissa — On January, 21st, 2006 at 10:25 am

    16. Ah yes Melissa, thanks, this would be great. Merci!

      Comment by Béa — On January, 21st, 2006 at 10:37 am

    17. I’ve only recently discovered caneles during my time in Strasbourg but I’m not sure if the two that I had were that great – more research required!

      Comment by Cin — On January, 22nd, 2006 at 7:01 am

    18. I discovered these in Antibes (far from Bordeaux indeed)
      I was at the marche when the artisan comes in every week
      I was staring at these because of the shape and colour
      The guy said to me I must try he gave me a portion
      It was wonderful
      I bought 2 pieces walked around the vieux Antibes like a kid happy eating canele.
      Since the recipe is here might as well try these one day
      I will have to look for the mould

      Comment by sha — On January, 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 am

    19. Vos canelés sont magnifiques -je lis que vous etes une “fille du Nord” comme moi .
      Merci pour votre blog qui , comme celui de Mercotte ,me fait saliver et rever

      Comment by danielle68 — On January, 29th, 2006 at 6:26 am

    20. Ah oui, vous venez d’ou Danielle68? ;-)
      Je suis heureuse voir que vous aimez mon blog! ;-)

      Sha, I love your canele story!

      Comment by Béa — On January, 29th, 2006 at 10:36 am

    21. Rebonjour, Je vais bientôt essayer ta recette de cannelle, il m’a manque encore la vanille. Est-ce qu’il est facile à faire? Je voulai dire % de reussir!

      Comment by relly — On February, 24th, 2006 at 12:05 am

    22. English,we live in France and have just got back from a weekend break in Bordeaux.Great place lovely city.I enjoyed eating caneles and now have your recipe.Has anybody any ideas where I can buy the copper moulds here to make them?We live near Biarritz.Thanks a lot for the recipe I could become addicted and need counselling Cheers French Chris(well English really!)

      Comment by Christine — On October, 15th, 2006 at 8:30 am

    23. If you need molds I have 50 for sale
      They are the real copper ones. I bought them online from France
      They cost 7 Euro each here

      http://www.cuisine-french.com/cgi/mdc/l/en/boutique/produits/mfr-cannele_cuivre_35.html

      I’m selling mines for 5 Euro each
      Shipping or Pickup from London
      paolo@schiavon.co.uk
      Thanks

      Comment by Paolo — On November, 23rd, 2006 at 11:10 am

    24. the caneles sound delicious! how many does your recipe make? i may be going to france next month and would consider buying the molds!

      Comment by Ariel — On November, 24th, 2006 at 10:37 am

    25. I will be in Paris in a few months, where would one find these molds, or would it be simpler to buy them online?

      Comment by Mary Beth — On February, 21st, 2007 at 8:22 am

    26. I finally got to try a canele at a patisserie in the 7eme in Paris this Summer. Needless to say that led to a dozen more (not in one sitting, though). I tried to go back the following day to get more to take on the flight home, but they were sadly closed.

      I have been craving this since then. Thank you so much for the recipe.

      I have not visited your website for some time now. ‘Love the format.

      J’adore Paris.

      Joe

      Comment by Joe — On November, 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    27. hi, where’d you get those molds? i’ve looked for them and they’re hard to find or hors de prix. what pâtissier in bordeaux sells them?

      Comment by joseph — On December, 29th, 2007 at 11:27 am

    28. Hi Bea. I’m also wondering how/where to buy the copper molds. Are all Canele Molds individual? You said you bought yours from a bakery. Is there a Canele pan available similar to a muffin pan? I’m not interested in the silicone Canele pan, but I like the concept, if it were copper. Any information you can provide would be helpful! Thank you!

      Comment by Andrea — On February, 12th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

    29. Hi

      I’m trying this recipe, but I am confused: are you supposed to mix the creme anglaise into the batter and bake that, or should it be served on the side?

      Comment by Han-Wen — On December, 31st, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    30. Thank you for the recipe. I bought frozen Canele for the Holidays at Trader Joe’s in Arlington, Massachusetts. They were delicious. I can only imagine how much better your recipe will taste.

      I have had recommendations for silicone molds (as the copper, however beautiful, are difficult to unmold).

      Once again, thank you.

      Comment by Nancy — On January, 18th, 2009 at 11:00 am

    31. Have you heard of “white asses”? It is an affliction of canele and yours do seem to be affected by it. It is mentioned in egullet discussion of Canele by Paula Wolfert.

      http://phillymarketcafe.blogspot.com/search?q=canele

      http://phillymarketcafe.blogspot.com/search?q=canele

      Comment by gaetano — On February, 1st, 2009 at 11:09 pm

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