Canneles

Jordan found this recipe in one of my cookbooks after he got home from a culinary internship in Germany.  He said they made them at the restaurant he was at and they were so good.  So the first time he made them, he used a mini muffin pan. The molds he used in Germany were copper molds, and they are very expensive to buy.  After that he ordered a silicone cannele mold.  And he made them quite often.   We love them, they are great with a cup of coffee.  They have a crunchy outer crust with a soft almost custardy inside. These are actually a french pastry and can be found at French bakeries.  I have found them in Minneapolis.  The first recipe we used was a 3 day process.  This recipe can be done in 2 days, and that is the one I use the most often.  

Canneles

Ingredients

2 cups (generous) whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup (scant) unsalted butter
pinch salt
1 vanilla bean,  split, seeds scraped out  or can use vanilla bean paste
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp (generous) dark rum

Directions

Put milk, butter, 2/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla bean in a saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Remove from heat, discard vanilla bean.

Put eggs, egg yolks and remaining sugar in a mixer bowl, and whisk 5 minutes until light, fluffy and frothy.  Add the flour to the egg mixture, followed by the warm milk and rum.  Mix to combine.

Pass the contents through a fine mesh strainer.  Let chill in refrigerator overnight.

Next day:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  If using silicone molds they do not need to be buttered before filling.  If using a copper mold beeswax is used to coat them.

Fill molds almost full with batter.  Set molds on cookie sheet.

Turn oven down to 450 degrees.

Bake 15 minutes.  Turn oven down to 375.  Bake for 50--70 minutes, until canneles are a deep golden brown.  The trick is to bake them a few minutes short of burning them.