Canelé is a small French pastry and it is very popular in Japan, but I have never seen it in Australian until recently. The other day I saw Canelés at a small bakery in Melbourne. I bought one and it was delicious, but expensive. Just one small Canelé was $4.5. I decided to bake Canelés at home as it shouldn’t be too difficult. The reason why I have never tried to bake Canelés was because I didn’t have Canelé moulds. Traditional moulds are very expensive and they were too difficult to find in Australia.

The times have changed. The Canelé moulds are still difficult to find but many online stores are selling them now. And there are cheaper alternatives. I bought a Canelé baking pan with 6 moulds and I started baking Canelés at home.

Canelé is a simple pastry but it is not easy to bake perfectly. BUT, it doesn’t matter if home-made Canelés don’t look perfect. They always taste good. My recipe is very easy and it requires nothing special such as Beeswax. You can bake Canelés using round dessert moulds OR even muffin pan.

Please note. These Canelés are not over-baked. Canelés should have the dark caramelised thick crusty outside.

Makes

6 Canelés *mould size 6cm top dia x 5.5cm height

Ingredients

1 cup (250ml) Milk
20g Butter *cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Whole Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 cup (125ml) Caster Sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) Plain Flour OR Bread Flour
2 tablespoons (30ml) Rum
Extra Butter to grease the moulds

Method
  1. Place Milk and Butter in a saucepan and heat over low heat until Butter melts, and remove from heat. Add Vanilla Extract and stir to combine. Set aside and cool slightly.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk Egg, Egg Yolk and Caster Sugar until smooth, then add Flour and mix to combine. Gradually add the Milk mixture that is still very warm but not hot, gently whisking, then add Rum, and mix to combine. Cover with plastic food wrap and leave in the fridge overnight OR 24 hours.
  3. Before you start baking, leave the batter at room temperature. The batter must be separated by now. Gently stir with a spatula until evenly combined.
  4. Preheat the oven to 230°C. Grease the moulds with Butter thinly. Fill the moulds 3/4 full with batter. Place moulds on a tray if you use individual moulds.
  5. Bake 15 minutes until batter has risen, then drop the heat setting to 190℃ (DO NOT open the door) and continue to bake for 35 to 40 minutes OR until dark brown. If top is getting too dark, cover with foil.
  6. Cool slightly in the moulds, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. *Note: If bottom is not baked well yet, place them back in the moulds, and bake for extra time.