After acquiring a copy of soft nougat center recipe from Debra, my friend on Thursday evening, I decided to test it out right away on Friday. As I have never made nougat before, I was very delighted when Debra said she is coming to stop by. Then, we got talking about our good ole' Canneles de Bordeaux and this "Polytech 'Lille". (http://caneleiaal.free.fr) A group of students who conducted study and reported on their in depth testings and findings on How To's of Le Canele de Bordeaux. We read it ones together back in 2007, but this time I listened more intentively. There's the reasonings for why scalding the milk - to infuse vanilla bean, why use the rhum vieux agricole, why or why not of refrigerating for 12 hours, etc, silicone mold vs, copper, and aluminum, etc. Well, my soft nougat turned out successfully and my family members validated them over the weekends, but tonight... well, last night I decided to venture one more time in the baking the second batch of Canneles de Bordeaux for year 2010. And what a great joy and satisfaction. This time around, it passed my sight, texture, taste, aroma, and clean kitchen test. Bees wax and butter mixture for the molds in the past is something you would think twice of if the product didn't turn out the way it should. They can be messy to clean after.
As mentioned in my past blog on Canneles, the ingredients are so simple, but yet, the baking them is extremely challenging. This time, I got 'the' best result compared to the ones in the past.
Outer shells are nice dark brown. A couple of them in the back of the oven turned close to 'burnt' looking, but when I tasted, it was so delicious. And also figured out how to get this RUM aroma I love so much in Cannele at its best. Thank you Debra for your visit Friday nite, it paid off.
As cannele is quite sweet, I decided to fill the molds only to half way rather than the usual three-fourth. This prevented the batter to rise afloat above the rim of the mold (normal, during baking), thus, minimized/prevented bees wax+butter coating in the molds to spill out to the baking sheet.
It was the best idea. Also, this produced two-bite size Canneles that is more appealing. And I am sure my family would love that, too.
This time I decided not to indulge in my Madagascar vanilla paste and only use 1 tsp of it rather the usual 1 Tbsp that I like.
Can't wait till morning, . . . I can have one in the morning for breakfast.
It looks so delicious!!!
ReplyDeleteI've tried them a few times but the texture is not quite there yet.
I wonder if aluminum molds (middle picture) worked for you.
Does it get sticky? can you get the cakes out easily?
And the last thing, where did you get them?
Thanks a lot,
Dee (CA, irvine)
Hello, Dee,
ReplyDeleteYes, I have tried the aluminum molds from the Fantes.com.
The key is to season them first, then be sure to coat with bees wax/butter mixture well before pouring the batter in.
The other important note is the oven temp. The high temperature of 425 to 450'F is one of the key for the good caramelization of the outer crust and soft custard like center.
My copper molds were purchased at e-Bay from France. How lucky I was to find a set at a very very reasonable price, and they are certified antique by the vendor. But that's the least of the important info. Let me know how yours turn out. I am very interested in sharing the notes on the Canneles.
Polly Bee
I heard all good things of copper molds but they are too expensive for me. I've just ordered 22 aluminum molds from fantes.com. I'll try again with the new molds and let you know how it goes. I'm using a canneles recipe from a Japanese book by Toru Yumita, www.ilpleut.co.jp. The recipe also calls for ground almond and it tastes excellent.
ReplyDeleteI love your website - the pictures, the recipes, the experiences... they're all wonderful. Thank your for sharing.
Dee
I know what you mean about the copper molds.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe sounds interesting. Let me know how it turns out. & If you have a blogsite, let me know, too.
Thanks!
Wow! Dee, Thank you for the link to www.ilpleut.co.jp (Luckily I read Japanese :-) ) Those pastry sure looks good-even though they are just some photos on the pages. I know one thing for sure - practice, practice.. will eventually make ours presentable as well. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could read Japanese. I bought a few baking books after living in Tokyo for two years and I'm still guessing the ingredients :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the aluminum molds from Fantes.com are out of stock so I'm thinking of ordering the non-stick aluminum molds from Creativecookware.com. Have you ever tried the non-stick molds? I wonder if it really works.
Thanks,
Dee
I am sorry to hear that they are out of stock. Yes, I have tried the non-stick Canneles molds. I ordered them from France. But I was very disappointed. As you know, Canneles need to be baked at high heat, the non-stick coating was emitting teflon meltdown like odor all over house. & I think if the Cannery bird were present, it would have died. After three tries with it, I stop using it. I think you have a better luck with the Silicone Canneles Molds. I have not tried to bake Canneles in it, but when I get it, I will try. & I think the canneles would turn out far better then the non-stick. Canneles did not caramelized well because of the non-stick vs high heat. By the way, when you order Canneles molds, **be sure to request the vendor to individually wrap them and not stack them on top of each other. That would scratch the interior and would give a spot for the batter to stick. This applies to Copper with Tin interior, Non-stick coated canneles molds, and aluminum type. Shinier the surface, the better it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your input. I'll stay away from non-stick molds.
ReplyDeleteBests,
Dee