Bordeaux Cannelés: the real recipe for Bordeaux canelés

The best recipe of Bordeaux cannelés in the world, as good (better?) as the recipe of Baillardran cannelés! If I swear.

As you have understood, I am more comfortable at the table than in the kitchen and it is rare that I launch into a recipe (apart from Gruyère pasta or Picard dishes!). So there are only three-four recipes that I control and among them, the canned ones. At the same time, any self-respecting good Bordeaux should be able to say the same! Well yeah, it’s still part of our culinary heritage!

So let’s get down to business, the real recipe for Bordeaux cinnamon. The first thing to know is that for this pastry, the mould is really essential: if you have copper moulds, cooking will be much simpler and also more successful because the copper allows a homogeneous diffusion of heat on the whole outside of the flute. It is a bit like the rolls of mussels to make a good recipe for flutes. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive (about 8 € pieces for large formats

Ingredients of the flutes

40 cl of milk

40 g soft butter at room temperature

180 g powdered sugar

90 g of flour

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

3-4 tablespoons of rum

1 pinch of salt

2 pods of vanilla

A bomb of beeswax

Preparation of the flutes:

Recipe for the pasta with canelés:

The first step in the recipe for flutes is the infusion of milk with vanilla pods. Take the vanilla pods and split them in half lengthwise and with the tip of a knife remove the vanilla grains and add to the milk. Let the rest of the pods infuse into the milk while you wear it to simmer.

Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the apparatus: in a bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and beat immediately with an electric mixer. The mixture must be beaten for several minutes until the apparatus rises and turns white. Then add the butter, which must be very creamed, in small pieces, and beat slowly with a mixer. Continue beating for a few moments at a higher speed to make the mixture homogeneous. Add the flour several times, taking care to mix the mixture each time.

Then go back to your boiling milk. Remove the vanilla pods and scrape all the vanilla powder that may have remained with a spoon or knife to add to the milk. If you like well vanilla cinnamon, you can even add some vanilla powder. Then pour the milk into the bowl with the egg-sugar-butter mixture. Mix well with the mixer. Add the rum and a pinch of fine salt.

Here, the fluted batter is ready, just let it rest 24 to 48 hours in the fridge.

The cooking of the canelés:

Cooking is certainly the most complex phase in the recipe of the Bordeaux cannelés. But it is not the Everest either.

You should first preheat your oven to 240°C (preferably rotating heat for more homogeneous heat).

Then, two possibilities use copper moulds (preferably) or silicone moulds. In both cases, the mussels should be carefully greased with beeswax. If you miss this step, unmoulding may be carnage, especially if you have opted for copper moulds! We can recommend the Mauviel mussels, of very good quality.

Then fill the moulds with 9/10 (the leg will swell at the beginning of cooking before going down again). Then bake for 15 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 185°C and continue cooking for about 40 minutes to 1 hour. (for more information on cooking, see below).

Remove the flutes from the oven and let cool thoroughly before unmoulding.

Tips for succeeding in the real recipe of the Bordeaux cannelés:

Some details and explanations about the recipe for Bordeaux cannelés:

The butter is creamed:

It is important that the butter is well creamed to incorporate homogeneously into the recipe. If necessary, microwave it for a few seconds at the thawing position. If it is slightly melted it is not very serious.

Use its split vanilla pods:

A small tip for vanilla pods: the emptied pods that you will collect milk can still be used. Let them dry, and when they are no longer wet at all put them in a pot with powdered sugar or cane sugar: this will give your sugar a pleasant vanilla scent.

Grease her mussels with beeswax:

To grease the mussels at the time of cooking, I recommend using beeswax in aerosol can, which is located in specialized stores -Mora, La Bovida, or G Detou (I believe) in Paris, Toc or Labo & Gato in Bordeaux. There is also solid beeswax, which is more difficult to use. At worst, you can use butter but the result will be less beautiful and more difficult to unmould. Otherwise, there is a vegetable oil-based fat easily found, Hurricane (brand Ancel).

How to successfully cook canelés: our tips

The cooking time I’ve noted is indicative, and it will depend on your oven and the size of your mussels. The recipe time is the average time for 55mm moulds with MY oven. But if you make the recipe for Bordeaux cannelés at home, the conditions will be different, so you have to adapt.

In fact, the cooking is done in two phases, first cooking, short and high temperature (240°) to give the desired colouring and caramelization; then a second phase longer and softer (about 185°) to cook the inside of the flutes, Give them the soft, alveolar side.

For smaller mussels, the caramelization phase will, therefore, be a little less important. But it is up to you to watch the cooking carefully: you must remain attentive for both phases. You have to start lowering the temperature when the dough starts to brown and caramelize and the golden spots start to appear. Next, check that the flute does not darken and if necessary lower the temperature a little more. So basically the idea for beautiful flutes is to start cooking at high temperature and finish at medium temperature. It’s up to you to see what happens with your oven: too caramelized, lower the fire at the beginning, lack of cooking at heart, raise the temperature of the second phase a bit!

Another tip: preferably put your canelés in the lower part of the oven for cooking. In fact, most of the time when you cook the flutes, the part that is the highest tends to cook more than the lower part (the one that is in the bottom of the mould). So we often find ourselves with the underside of the canelés a little burnt, or the top not enough cooked and whitish. The trick to avoiding that is to bake the canelés at the bottom of the oven. This way, the heat is stronger down (which is protected by the mould) and softer up (where the mould is open).

Canelé Bordelais is a pastry that requires a lot of attention, you have to watch the colouring constantly, at least the first times you make this recipe. Once you have the help, it is easier to locate. But personally I continue to check each time.

Tips for removing canes:

Before unmoulding, allow the flutes to cool. First of all because the release will be easier once the caramelization sugars have returned to a solid form, and also because they may tend to sag slightly if removed too soon.

Is it fluted or caned?

Oh by the way, we can write “canned” or “canelés”. It’s up to you. Apparently, we should say “canelés”, which is kind of our characteristic of the southwest. But basically, it’s up to you, the important thing being that it’s good. I prefer fluted because I think it’s prettier.