French Canele

I've become obsessed with deserts that are served in European countries. I think they look absolutely divine and since they are hard to find in the US, I've been looking at recipes to try making them at home. One of my favorite chefs on Youtube is Bruno Albouze and I knew that his Canele recipe would be top notch since he made these in a bakery in Bordeaux. I've never had a Canele before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but Bruno's recipe does not disappoint! It was sweet, custardy, and perfect! Dr. Sweetpea ate three in one sitting! The only change that I made to his recipe was using the oven temperature and baking time from the Saveur website.

Caneles de Bordeaux 

(Source: Bruno Albouze and  Niko Triantafillou from Saveur)

500 ml whole milk

45 grams unsalted butter

1 vanilla bean, scrape the seeds

80 grams egg yolks

120 grams all purpose flour

30 grams corn starch

225 grams granulated sugar

20 ml dark rum

20 ml Grand Marnier

Bring milk, vanilla bean seeds, and butter to 185 Fahrenheit over low/medium heat (I even added my vanilla pods into this mixture). In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and slowly add in the hot milk mixture. Whisk until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, corn starch, and sugar. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Mix in the dark rum and Grand Marnier. Let this mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours (I let mine rest for 24 hours because I read online that it’s better to have the mixture rest undisturbed longer). Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and coat the molds lightly with nonstick baking spray. Retrieve the batter from the fridge and stir gently with a rubber spatula to redistribute any flour and vanilla seeds that have settled to the bottom. Remove the vanilla pods and discard. Pour 71 grams of batter into each canele mold. Transfer to the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 425F. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature down to 350F and continue baking for 1 hour (Nikko's recipe indicates that the caneles should be baked for 1 hour 50 minutes but I only baked them for 1 hour). Remove the pan from the oven and let the caneles cool int heir molds for 10 minutes before unmolding unto cooler rack