These French pastries come from Bordeaux in the south-west of the country and are flavoured with rum and vanilla. They have a very caramelised and crunchy outside, contrasted with a soft, custardy centre. It is this contrast, along with their delicious flavour, that makes them such a delightful treat. However, I must warn you, once you have had one homemade canelé, they are rather addictive!

One thing to note is that you will require specific canelé moulds to get the authentic shape and caramelisation. Traditionally, they are made in copper moulds, but I used a silicon mould, which seemed to work just as well. 

Ingredients:

500ml whole milk

50g butter

1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out

100g plain flour

250g caster sugar 

1tsp salt

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

60ml dark rum (or spiced rum – see recipe below)

Method:

• Heat the milk, butter, and the vanilla pod & seeds in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
• Place the flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl, while in a separate bowl lightly beat together the whole eggs and egg yolks. 
• Then pour both the eggs and warm milk mixture into the dry ingredients, then whisk everything gently until combined into a smooth batter.
• Strain this batter through a sieve into another bowl, then stir through the rum and return the used vanilla pod. Then cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge for a least a day (2 days is best).
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 240oC. Then remove the batter from the fridge and gently stir together. Pour the batter into the moulds, leaving about 0.5cm from the top empty to allow for a rise.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 190oC and bake for 55minutes to an hour, until they are a deep golden colour.
• When baked, immediately remove the canelés from their moulds and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

Homemade Spiced Rum Recipe 

Ingredients:

1 bottle dark rum (750ml)

I vanilla pod

1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

1 stick of cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 

3 cloves

2 pieces of orange peel

5 allspice berries

5 black peppercorns 

Method:

• Slice the vanilla pod in half and add the remaining ingredients into the bottle of dark rum, then leave to sit for at least a week. I left mine for at least a year before I made these canelés!