Canelé (French Rum-Vanilla Custard Cake)
Canelé is the classic dessert from Bordeaux, France, often spotted in bakery cafés. Milk, vanilla bean, and butter are infused together, rum is folded into the batter, and after resting overnight it's baked at high heat for a caramelized, crackly crust with a soft, custardy center.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Milk450g
- Butter35g
- Vanilla bean1
- Egg1
- Egg yolk1
- Vanilla extract2g
- Cake flour125g
- Sugar160g
- Rum20g
Directions
- 1
Pour 450g of milk and 35g of butter into a pot.
- 2
Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife.
- 3
Add the vanilla pod and scraped seeds into the pot.
- 4
Heat over low heat. Once the butter has fully melted and small bubbles form at the edges, turn off the heat.
- 5
In a bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.
- 6
Add 2g of vanilla extract.
- 7
Mix well.
- 8
Pour in about 1/3 of the warm milk-butter mixture.
- 9
Mix well (repeat this in two more additions).
- 10
Sift in 125g of cake flour and 160g of sugar.
- 11
Mix well.
- 12
Finally, add the rum and mix.
- 13
Strain the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps.
- 14
Cover the batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day to let it rest.
- 15
Coat the inside of the canelé molds thinly with butter.
- 16
Pour the rested batter into the molds, filling each about 80% full.
- 17
Bake in an oven preheated to 230°C: 15 minutes at 210°C, then flip the mold over and bake another 15 minutes at 210°C. Cover to prevent burning and bake a final 40 minutes at 180°C, checking the color as you go.
- 18
As soon as they're baked, remove the canelés from the molds and let them cool on a wire rack.
- 19
Enjoy your canelés — caramelized and crisp outside, soft and moist inside!