Cannelés Bordelais

1 vanilla bean (Mexican, Madasgascar, Tahitian)
2 cups almond milk
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and diced
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp superfine sugar
4 extra-large egg yolks
1 Tbsp DARK rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ounce round of bee's wax beeswax (for brushing molds)
safflower oil (for brushing molds)
10 copper cannele molds

  1. Rinse a saucepan with cold water. Add milk and set over low heat. Split vanilla bean and add to milk. Heat to 183 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 8-10 min.
  2. Meanwhile, place the butter, cake flour and salt in a food processor: pulse until combined. Scatter the sugar on top: pulse until mixed. (This recipe will be much easier to execute if using a food processor.)
  3. Add the egg yolks; pulse until the mixture begins to tighten, dough will resemble thick, golden paste.
  4. Remove vanilla bean and scrape vanilla seeds into milk before discarding. With the food processor on, quickly and steadily pour the hot milk into the mixture in the food processor. Pulse until combined. Strain batter through a very fine sieve into a clean container, pressing any congealed yolk through. Stir in the rum, add vanilla and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate 24-48 hrs.
  5. If using copper or tin molds: About 6 hrs before serving, lightly brush the interior of each cannelé mold with “white oil.” Set crown side up on paper towels to avoid the pooling of oil in crevices. Place the molds in the freezer before baking.
  6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chilled molds on baking sheet. Stir the batter and then fill molds almost to the top. Place on lower oven rack. Bake for 2 hrs until the cannelés are deep, deep brown in color. (If using convection, bake at 375 degrees for 1 hr 15 min). If you bake more than 10 or less than 10 canneles per batch, then you will need to adjust for the 2 hrs. Check the oven every 20-30 min.
  7. When the batter rises out of the molds, remove them from oven and slit the tops with a knife to deflate. After they deflate, return to oven. Repeat as necessary.
  8. When canneles are nearly black (we want this for the caramelization), remove from oven. One by one, use an oven mitt (I like using tongs) to grasp each hot mold, rap against a hard surface to loosen, and tip out onto cooling rack. If they resist unmolding, bake 5-10 min longer and use a toothpick to loosen if necessary. (If using silicon molds, then cool in the molds before removing. This helps the cannelé to retain its shape).
  9. Cool to room temperature before serving. Best to eat canneles 1-5 hrs after baking.

To make "white oil":

  1. Melt beeswax in a 1 pint glass measuring cup in microwave.
  2. While still warm, gradually stir in enough safflower oil to make a whitened mixture, light enough to coat the back of a spoon).
  3. Cool to room temperature; store in the glass container at room temperature.

To refresh:

  • Reheat cannelés at 450 degrees for 5 min. Let it cool first so that the outside can crisp up and the inside can cool down.

To freeze:

  • Baked cannelé can be frozen (individually wrapped in plastic wrap) for up to one month.

To reheat frozen canneles:

  1. Remove from freezer and bake frozen canneles (unwrapped) at 500 degrees for 5 min.
  2. Remove from oven and let rest for 30 min.
  3. Bake again for 5 min.
  4. Remove and let cool until exteriors harden.