Canelé Pastry (Without Beeswax)

If canelés have been on your to-do list for ever but you’ve been intimidated by them, then this post is for you! After weeks of testing and so many failed batches, I am finally ready to share with you a detailed canelé recipe with all the troubleshooting tips I could think of! Hopefully it won’t be long until you are able to enjoy at home these unique French pastries with a crisp, caramelized crust and a custard-like interior.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Simplified: No need for overly expensive copper molds or beeswax in this recipe! I’m keeping it as simple as possible so anyone can try it out.

• Unique: They might be small but these little treats make quite an impression! From their lovely shape to the wonderful textural contrast between the crisp shell and the custardy interior, you’ll be “trying” way more than one!

• Customizable: The canelé is traditionally flavored with rum and vanilla. But if you want to make canelés without rum, you can replace it with orange blossom water, orange juice, mandarin juice etc. You can also add other flavorings such as almond extract.

Canelé Molds

Let’s go over the pros and cons of three types of canelé molds which you might find when looking to buy:

Copper molds

Pros: Canelés are traditionally baked in copper molds which conduct heat very well. You’ll be able to enjoy a more authentic canelé with a dark caramelized crust.

Cons: Copper molds have to be seasoned before the first use so they don’t stick. This involves coating them in beeswax (and/or butter) and placing them in a very hot oven (without batter). This step can feel a bit tedious and finding beeswax that is suitable for baking can be difficult. But maybe the biggest con is the exorbitant price tag of this type of mold.

Silicone molds

Pros: Silicone molds are easy to find online and much more affordable. You can also use them straight away without the seasoning process.

Cons: It will be hard (I might even say impossible) to get an evenly caramelized canelé. The top and bottom parts will generally be darker and more caramelized while the sides will be lighter and softer. You’ll also notice that the shape of the canelé isn’t as defined as when you are using other types of molds.

Aluminum non stick molds

Pros: A good compromise between copper and silicone in terms of both price and outcome.

Cons: The non-stick coating can chip off easily making them unusable.

So which one should you pick? That’s up to you. But this is what I did: I started off with a sturdy silicone mold. If you’ve never tried canelés before, it will give you an idea on what to expect without spending too much.

But if you are a perfectionist, then you’ll eventually get frustrated that you can’t get a perfect looking canelé with an even interior. This is when it would be time to invest in better heat conducting molds such as aluminum or copper. I bought two aluminum molds just to see if there would really be any difference and I have to admit it’s hard to go back to the silicone one now.

Below you can see the difference between a canelé baked in an aluminum mold and a silicone mold. The one baked in an aluminum mold has an evenly caramelized crust with an airy interior. The one baked in a silicone mold took longer to bake and didn’t brown evenly. The sides aren’t as crunchy as the top and bottom. The inside has random air pockets with some denser parts.

And if you really don’t want to invest in fancy molds, you could try making canelés in a muffin pan. You obviously won’t get the authentic canelé but you’ll still be able to enjoy a delicious treat.

Ingredients

• Milk: Whole milk, for optimal flavor and texture.

• Sugar: For sweetness and to give the canelés their wonderful caramelized exterior.

• Eggs: The eggs will provide structure along with the flour used. They’ll also contribute to the rich, custardy interior, especially the yolks. We’ll be using one whole egg and one extra yolk, for added richness.

• Flour: For structure. Adding more flour than the recipe called for yielded a taller, cakier canelé with a softer crust. Conversely, using less flour yielded a denser canelé with a chewy, stick-in-your-teeth crust.

• Butter: Just a little bit of butter, for even more richness and flavor.

• Flavorings: I’m using orange blossom water and almond extract in this recipe. But you can use rum or cognac instead and replace the almond with vanilla if desired. You could also add some lemon or orange zest if you’d like.

• Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs (whole egg and yolk) with the remaining sugar in a large bowl, just until combined.

Tip: Whisk as little as possible to avoid incorporating too much air which might cause excessive rise and spilling during baking.

• Sift the flour over the egg mixture and mix with a spoon (or spatula) just until completely smooth. Switch back to the whisk only if necessary.

Tip: Making a paste by adding the flour to the egg mixture before adding the hot liquids will make it easier to get rid of any lumps. If you find the mixture too thick, you can add a little bit of warm milk.

• Pour a little bit of hot milk over the egg mixture to loosen it and briefly stir to combine. Scrape down any mixture stuck on the spoon (spatula) if needed.
• Mix in the almond extract.
• Then gradually pour the remaining milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream whilst stirring (to avoid scrambling the eggs).
• Add desired flavoring and briefly stir to combine then chill.

Baking Canelés

Oven settings

Figuring out the right settings for your oven is probably the trickiest part of the recipe. The bake time will depend a lot on your oven and the molds you are using. Most recipes will recommend baking the canelés at the highest temperature initially. But if you tend to read the user manual front to back like I do, you might have noticed that it’s generally not recommended to heat molds such as aluminum and silicone to more than 220°C/428°F. So we won’t be exceeding this temperature in today’s recipe.

The canelés are usually baked at two temperatures:

• A high initial temperature for about 10 minutes to quickly set the crust
• Then a longer bake time at a lower temperature to fully cook the inside without burning the canelé

I also tried baking the canelé at the same temperature (220°C/428°F), about 38 minutes, for simplicity. It worked in my oven when using aluminum molds but not so much with a silicone mold. It was harder to fully cook the inside without burning the crust at a high temperature.

Do a test run

To avoid wasting the whole batch, it’s best to bake only two canelés the first time and take notes. Start with the oven settings recommended in the recipe. Then to check for doneness, invert a canelé onto a wire rack using kitchen gloves. Unless you are using silicone molds, you should aim for an even dark brown color (not black). If it’s too light, the canelé won’t be crunchy enough. Carefully return it to the mold and continue baking, checking for doneness as needed. You most likely won’t manage to get an even color if using a silicone mold. The top and bottom will usually be darker. So try to go as dark as possible without burning the canelé.

Then cut one open 1-2 hours after baking, once it has cooled down. The inside should be airy (pictured below). It it’s dense, it was most likely underbaked.

Write down any details that could be helpful for the next batch such as:

1. Chilling time: How long did you chill the batter? Batter that was chilled overnight won’t rise or brown as quickly as if you had baked it immediately.
2. Batter temperature: Did you use batter straight from the fridge or did you let it warm up at room temperature first? Cold batter will be more likely to rise.
3. How full the mold was: I’d recommend weighing the batter. If you notice too much doming, you might want to use less batter next time. If the canelé is too short for your liking, you could use a bit more batter.
4. The oven temperature: Did you keep the same temperature throughout or did you reduce it at one point?
5. Placement: What oven shelf did you use, did you place the molds in the middle or towards the sides? Ovens have hot spots so you might need to know what spots to avoid if you encounter issues such as excessive rise.
6. Baking time: How long did you need to bake them to get a crunchy, caramelized crust that wasn’t burnt and an airy interior (not dense)?
7. Characteristics: Was it crunchy and airy enough? Did it rise too much? Was the crust too thick?

Let’s start with one of the issues that pops up a lot (pun intended!): the canelés are rising way too much during baking. As a result you end up with all sorts of weird things: a “cul blanc” (“white bottom”!), bell shape, soft crust and more.

Milk temperature

Another noticeable difference between the two methods was the temperature of the milk when the first bubbles appeared. When heating the milk with the butter and part of the sugar, the temperature was about 90°C (194°F) at the first sign of bubbles. But when I heated the milk without butter, the temperature was around 72°C (162°F).

To test the importance of the milk temperature, I followed the traditional method using a recipe with less eggs (8% of the total formula instead of 9.6%) that generally barely rose. But I cooled down the milk (and butter) to 67°C (153°F) before pouring it over the egg mixture. The canelés once more rose uncontrollably.

I was curious to see if this would happen when using egg yolks. So I replaced a whole egg with two yolks (7.5% of the total formula). The canelés rose in an orderly fashion and weren’t affected by the milk temperature and the melted butter. Below is a comparison of my usual recipe (traditional method) and the recipe with egg yolks. Both were filled with the same amount of batter (75g/2.6 oz.). The canelés made with more egg yolks rose a bit less and had an eggy flavor.

Batter temperature

Another factor that seemed to affect how much the canelé rose was the temperature of the batter. When two molds were filled with the same amount of the exact same batter, the one that was left at room temperature for longer before baking rose less (pictured left below).

Mold

How well you grease your mold will also determine how your canelé rises. When the mold wasn’t properly washed and greased, the canelé rose unpredictably and tore in places as it got stuck to the mold (pictured right, above).

Amount of batter

And finally, this might seem obvious, but the amount of batter has an impact on the shape of the canelé and the color. If you overfill the mold, the canelé is more likely to rise over the mold. Pictured left below, one of the molds was filled with 78 g (2.8 oz.) of batter while the other one was filled with 69 g (2.4 oz.). They both rose well but the one with more batter rose above the mold, yielding a slight bell shape. The top was also light in color by the end of the usual baking time so I had to lower the temperature to 180°C to get an even color without burning it.

But if something went wrong (see previous points), the canelé might not slide back down after rising and you’ll end up with a bell shape and a “cul blanc” (pictured right, above).

Additional factors

I also thought I’d mention these two points which are sometimes given as a reason for mushrooming.

• Overmixing the batter: If you overmix the batter, you might incorporate too much air which can lead to mushrooming. I’m not entirely convinced yet but I say better safe than sorry, so mix as little as possible!

• Oven temperature: Some bakers find that simply raising the initial oven temperature (if your molds can handle it) and making sure the oven is properly preheated solves their problems.

Confused? Let’s summarize all these points!

How to Prevent Mushrooming

Troubleshooting Tips

The batter isn’t smooth

It’s best to strain the batter before pouring it into the molds. But here are some reasons why you might end up with batter that isn’t smooth.

• Flour lumps: If the mixture is runny when you add the flour, you are more likely to end up with flour lumps. To avoid this, it’s best to form a paste with the flour and egg mixture before adding the milk. You can also sift the flour first in case you don’t already.

• Butter lumps after chilling: The butter will tend to firm up during chilling and the batter might look grainy. It won’t affect the end result. But to minimize this, make sure you swirl the saucepan frequently when heating the butter with the milk and sugar so it’s properly combined. You should also use room temperature eggs.

• Egg bits: Have your whisk ready as soon as you pour the sugar onto the eggs. If you don’t stir immediately, the sugar will “cook” the eggs. Another reason could be that you added hot milk onto the egg mixture too quickly, thereby scrambling the eggs.

The canelé is stuck to the mold

• The mold wasn’t greased properly (or at all): The canelés have a tendency to stick. Make sure you grease the mold before filling it with batter. If you can’t unmold the canelé immediately after baking, let it cool down briefly at room temperature (about 10-15 minutes) before trying again. It should slide out once the butter has cooled down a little. Just note that a canelé left in the mold won’t be as crunchy as one that was unmolded immediately. You could try returning it briefly to the oven inverted on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (for more crunchiness). Alternatively, to unmold the canelé immediately after baking, you could gently try inserting a wooden skewer to release it from the mold.

• The mold wasn’t washed properly before use: When using aluminum molds or silicone molds, it’s best to wash the molds before each use. Leftover canelé batter might cause sticking.

• The mold was overfilled: The canelé will rise during baking then settle back down. If you fill the mold all the way to the top, it might overflow and stick to the mold as it bakes. It’s best not to fill the mold more than 5 mm (1/5 inch) from the top.

• Underbaked: Try baking the canelé a bit longer before unmolding.

Uneven browning

• Oven hot spots: The canelés might bake at a slightly different rate depending on where they are located in your oven. If you’re not familiar with the hot spots in your oven, you could try baking a few slices of toast bread (as shown in my baking tips post). You’ll notice that some slices brown more than others.

• Underbaked or overbaked: The canelé will get darker in color as it bakes. If you take it out too soon, some parts might still be too light in color. You might also need to adjust the oven temperature if you notice that the canelé isn’t baking evenly. A very high oven temperature might cause it to be overly brown (or burnt) in parts.

• Mushrooming: If the canelé rises too much during baking, it won’t slide back down into the mold. The batter will no longer be in contact with the bottom of the mold and you’ll end up with a “cul blanc” (white bottom). More on this in the section “How to prevent mushrooming”.

• The mold wasn’t greased evenly: Get rid of any excess butter in the mold before filling with batter. In the picture below, I noticed after unmolding that the canelé on the right had puddles of butter where the color is lighter.

And there you have it! I really hope you found this post helpful and that I covered any issues you might encounter!

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