I'll admit that I can be a compulsive shopper when it comes to kitchenwares. A few months ago I was browsing the sale and clearance section on Sur La Table's website, and I saw that the store had some de Buyer silicone canelé molds on sale. I've never been tempted to make canelés before, but the molds were marked down substantially, and I had a promotional code for an additional discount... so a few clicks and a week later, two molds were delivered to my doorstep.
I had eaten a canelé only once before in my life. A few years ago when I was in San Francisco, I met up with a law school friend at the Ferry Building Marketplace. She insisted on taking me to Boulette's Larder for a canelé (this friend shares my appreciation for baked goods and she happens to be the person who came up with the name "Ipso Fatto" for this blog). I thought it was good, but I didn't fully appreciate all that goes into making a canelé until I tried to make one myself.
I looked online for a recipe and I decided to go with one from Pim Techamuanvivit, not only because she gives a very thorough canelé tutorial on her blog Chez Pim, but also because she specifically addresses the issue of using silicone molds instead of the traditional copper ones. I was surprised at how simple it is to make the canelé batter, but I was missing one critical ingredient before I could get started: beeswax. Canelés are traditionally baked in molds coated with the mixture of butter and beeswax, and the beeswax is apparently critical for achieving a shiny, crunchy crust.
Pim suggests checking a farmers market for beeswax, but I wasn't having any luck. Fortunately, I had another source. My friend Dorothy has an uncle in Vermont who keeps bees. Dorothy passed along a request for beeswax, and Uncle Bill came through in a big way, sending a few pounds in the mail.
Beeswax in hand, I was ready to get started. Pim says that that batter must be made 48 hours in advance, so I began two days ahead. You sift together flour, powdered sugar, and salt; add in eggs and egg yolks; pour in a mixture of milk and butter that has been heated to a boil with a split vanilla bean and cooled slightly; pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl containing the vanilla bean that was heated with the milk; add rum; and cover and chill for two days.
On the day of baking, I melted equal weights of beeswax and butter in a small pot, and I used a small paintbrush to coat the insides of the silicone molds. This was a fairly messy process. I put the coated molds in the freezer and tried to clean up -- basically, I had to use boiling water to clean out the pot that held the butter-wax mixture, and the paintbrush. The most difficult part of clean up was trying to wash the beeswax off of my hands. It's no wonder that beeswax is used as a moisturizing ingredient in cosmetics -- it has staying power.
The amount of batter was precisely enough to make 16 canelés, which was perfect, because each of my two silicone molds has eight cavities. I filled the molds and baked the canelés for 15 minutes at 450 degrees and 40 minutes at 375 degrees. I checked the canelés and they had not taken on any color. I put them back in the oven and kept checking every five minutes. After a total of 70 minutes of baking, they were not as dark as Pim's, but I decided that they looked like they were done.
After going through the trouble of using beeswax, my top priority was to get a shiny, crispy crust -- and I couldn't have asked for a better result on that front. The canelés were beautifully shiny, and upon biting into one, there was a loud audible crunch -- exactly like the one you hear in this video from Chow when Scott Hocker bites into a canelé from Boulette's Larder. The inside was moist and custardy.
I have to say that the vanilla custard flavor wasn't my favorite -- I mean, it was tasty, but it didn't exactly blow my socks off. And I know that my crust was not quite the correct color, even taking into account that I cheated by using silicone molds. Still, I was very pleased with the results of my first canelé-making effort, and I look forward getting better results with some more practice!
Recipe: "Canelés de Bordeaux" (see also "How to make (almost) perfect canelés using silicone molds") on Chez Pim.
I had eaten a canelé only once before in my life. A few years ago when I was in San Francisco, I met up with a law school friend at the Ferry Building Marketplace. She insisted on taking me to Boulette's Larder for a canelé (this friend shares my appreciation for baked goods and she happens to be the person who came up with the name "Ipso Fatto" for this blog). I thought it was good, but I didn't fully appreciate all that goes into making a canelé until I tried to make one myself.
I looked online for a recipe and I decided to go with one from Pim Techamuanvivit, not only because she gives a very thorough canelé tutorial on her blog Chez Pim, but also because she specifically addresses the issue of using silicone molds instead of the traditional copper ones. I was surprised at how simple it is to make the canelé batter, but I was missing one critical ingredient before I could get started: beeswax. Canelés are traditionally baked in molds coated with the mixture of butter and beeswax, and the beeswax is apparently critical for achieving a shiny, crunchy crust.
Pim suggests checking a farmers market for beeswax, but I wasn't having any luck. Fortunately, I had another source. My friend Dorothy has an uncle in Vermont who keeps bees. Dorothy passed along a request for beeswax, and Uncle Bill came through in a big way, sending a few pounds in the mail.
Beeswax in hand, I was ready to get started. Pim says that that batter must be made 48 hours in advance, so I began two days ahead. You sift together flour, powdered sugar, and salt; add in eggs and egg yolks; pour in a mixture of milk and butter that has been heated to a boil with a split vanilla bean and cooled slightly; pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl containing the vanilla bean that was heated with the milk; add rum; and cover and chill for two days.
The amount of batter was precisely enough to make 16 canelés, which was perfect, because each of my two silicone molds has eight cavities. I filled the molds and baked the canelés for 15 minutes at 450 degrees and 40 minutes at 375 degrees. I checked the canelés and they had not taken on any color. I put them back in the oven and kept checking every five minutes. After a total of 70 minutes of baking, they were not as dark as Pim's, but I decided that they looked like they were done.
After going through the trouble of using beeswax, my top priority was to get a shiny, crispy crust -- and I couldn't have asked for a better result on that front. The canelés were beautifully shiny, and upon biting into one, there was a loud audible crunch -- exactly like the one you hear in this video from Chow when Scott Hocker bites into a canelé from Boulette's Larder. The inside was moist and custardy.
I have to say that the vanilla custard flavor wasn't my favorite -- I mean, it was tasty, but it didn't exactly blow my socks off. And I know that my crust was not quite the correct color, even taking into account that I cheated by using silicone molds. Still, I was very pleased with the results of my first canelé-making effort, and I look forward getting better results with some more practice!
Recipe: "Canelés de Bordeaux" (see also "How to make (almost) perfect canelés using silicone molds") on Chez Pim.
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