This tutorial is to show you how to bake the delicious French canelé using regular muffin tins and with a canelé mold cake pan and without using any beeswax. I made them in original rum and vanilla flavor, pandan flavor, and ube flavor.
Heat milk and butter until it just come to simmer and turn off the heat immediately. Do not let it boil over. Let it cools down to lukewarm
In another mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg with sugar and salt until well combined. Add the extract and rum or whatever flavor you are using. whisk again to combine. Sift in the flour and whisk to combine
Temper the eggs mixture with the lukewarm milk by pouring a bit to the egg mixture while whisking gently at the same time. Then continue to pour the rest and whisk to combine
Strain the batter:
Strain the batter through a mesh strainer to smooth out any lumps. I strained mine twice. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and put this batter in the fridge for at least 48 hours or up to 5 days. I won't go any longer than 5 days. 48 hours is the minimum
On the day you want to bake the caneles:
Bring the batter out and let it sit at the counter for at least 1 hour, 2 hours if you have the time. We want the batter to be at room temperature (room temperature is about 68 F/ 20 C)
Preheat oven at 450 F (230 C). My oven is conventional with only bottom heat. If you are using a convection oven (top and bottom heat). I would keep the same temperature but you may want to shorten the baking time.
Brushing the muffin tin or canele pan with softened butter evenly all over
Gently whisk the batter to mix as most of the flour may have settled at the bottom of the container. Do not whisk vigorously as we do not want to add too many air bubbles into the batter
Pour the batter into the mold, only about 3/4 full. You may think you need to fill up more, but don't be tempted to. If you fill it up too full, the caneles may rise too high and won't settle back in, creating that "mushroom" top, which we don't want
My muffin tin has about 80 ml capacity (3/4 full) and my canele mold has 65 ml capacity (3/4 full)
Just to show you that these were filled a bit too much
Baking:
Place the pan in the middle rack and bake at 450 F (230 C) for 15 minutes with a conventional oven and 10 minutes with a convection oven. Lower the temperature to 375 F (190 C) without opening the oven door. Continue to bake for 55-60 minutes or until the caneles have that deep brown color. The time is just for reference. You may need to experiment to get it right with your oven
It's normal that the caneles will start to rise at first, which is why you don't want to fill up too much
It continues to rise more, but it won't mushroom to the side and they will fall right back in when you cool them down later
Cooling down:
Once they are done baking, remove from the pan immediately onto a cooling rack. They feel soft and that's normal. Let them cool down for at least 1 hour. The outer crust will crisp up nicely for you
How to store:
Caneles are best eaten on the same day. You can keep them in a container in the fridge for about a week. The outer crust will soften.
Caneles also freeze very well. I wrap each one in a cling wrap and then put inside a freezer bag, push all the air out and seal tightly. They can be kept in the freezer for 3 months. Though I tried to keep for one month for best result
How to recrisp caneles:
If you keep them in the fridge, simply reheat in the oven at 450 F for 5 minutes and then let them sit for 30 minutes or so to crisp back up
If the caneles are frozen, you don't need to thaw. Reheat at 500 F for 5 minutes or 450 F for about 8-10 minutes and then let then sit for 30 minutes or so to crisp back up