It’s Malgieri to the Rescue!
Well now this is more like it! These don’t have the shiny finish I want and I didn’t take photos of the process, so I’ll need to do another batch…which might take me a couple of days now that I think about it. But heck, I can always move on to another topic in the meantime. Suffice to say…thanks, Nick! That formula is a winner…and not difficult to do.
Oh man I need a drink. This has been a long week!
Hey Joe!
Is that the kind of texture you were searching for?
How spongy is the inside?
I am puzzled cause most of the canneles I tried have a more custardy one, and same goes for the pictures found on the interenet. Here is a great example of the “usual” style:
http://www.raids-patisseries.com/2012/05/meilleur-canele-cannele-paris.html
At the same time the Malgieri recipe says to serve them warm. Which is the opposite of all others. Are they still crispy outside?
I am really curious.
Thanks!
Hey Marco!
So far I’m just pleased that I got something to work! I think I may get a little closer to something French the next time. Or not. Keep your fingers crossed.
– Joe
Congratulations on your success. You sure deserve that drink!
I had my first cannele today (from Boulud, he has a café type shop near Lincoln Center), which was very good, and I’m beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. But mostly it seems that there is no “gold standard” for a cannele, they’re all so different. The one I had was very good but entirely different than the Malgieri cannele above (which sort of looks like brioche, not that there’s anything wrong with that), and also entirely different than the photo Marco linked to above. It was nowhere near as custardy. It was quite moist but not so dense. (Maybe because I bought it in the afternoon. Would it be different freshly baked? I’ll have to go there one morning.) The outside was very dark and caramelized, almost black, with some crispiness but not as much as I expected. It was very flavorful, that’s for sure. (And so small!)
It seems the whole “thing” about these is the contrast between exterior and interior, and getting that contrast just right. When I first read about them and their long baking time at high temp, it made no sense. How could you end up with anything other than carbon? But you did. Hats off to ya! And thanks so much for this tutorial. I might even attempt to make them one day.
Thanks, Chana! I’m going to keep going because mine were dense too, and I don’t think they should be like that, at least from what I understand. Say a prayer for me!
– Joe
Hey from France,
I am a very devote follower of yours. I am a French girl who lived in the US for few years. At that time I encountered MANY troubles trying to bake my very simple French recipes (chocolate cake, choux à la creme and so on…)
I am always very impressed by the way you explain everything; it makes the baking process so much more interesting than just follow a recipe!
I have been looking at you website every single day (sometime enve twice a day…) since you started the cannelés experience. I was very excited with all your attempts (I would even laugh out loud in my office looking at you post)!
HOWEVER, I’ll have to agree with Marco on this one; the Malgieri’s recipe does not fit the texture of the French cannelé. As far as I can tell, it looks definitely more like a brioche.
Louise Chauchard’s blog (http://www.raids-patisseries.com/2012/05/meilleur-canele-cannele-paris.html) is an excellent preview of French cannelés.
Would you pleeeease make at least on last attempt to the perfect French cannelé? And I will ship you a box of Lemoine cannelés to thank you…
Thanks again for all your work!
Hello Amandine!
I love your name! Thank you for your generous comments and I’m with you, I’m not completely satisfied (as I just mentioned that the most recent post). I’ll say that while they look bread-like on the inside, these cannelés really aren’t like brioche. Still there’s something more that needs to be done here. I’m not giving up until I’ve achieved something closer to what’s eaten in France.
Pray for me!
– Joe
Joe, how about Christophe Felder’s?
http://www.christophe-felder.com/recettes/index.php?id=71
http://www.paprikas.fr/m/article-110844245.html
Felder’s recipe is the same as the Hermé’s one.
And Bau has an almost identical chocolate version of it.
So my guess it that the recipe comes at least from Lenotre.
This link seems to confirm it, the only major difference is the egg content:
http://fxcuisine.com/Default.asp?language=2&Display=54&resolution=high
[as a side note it also has some weird flavouring for canneles]
Thanks, M! I’ll look these over!
– Joe
Also, there is a great cannele discussion here:
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/8090-please-help-with-cannele-recipe/
Francisco Migoya’s chocolate canneles:
http://www.paprikas.fr/m/article-110844245.html
Ideas In Food has rather interesting ones:
http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2012/04/cornflakes-canele.html
Sorry, these are Migoya’s:
http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2013/07/mini-chocolate-rum-canneles.html?m=1
Thanks for all the links, M!
– Joe