Go to the Recipe: Canelés
I like the sidebar tips and tricks thing you guys are doing with this recipe. The voice of the writing is a little different too. Not sure if I prefer that or not, but either way it is great. A lot of desserts lately, a trend?
All the additional info below the base recipe is pure genius! Tips, flavors, other shapes ... I love it!
Guys, keep the feedback coming. Let us know what you like, what you don't like. We expect to do more of our content like this going forward. As for the voice @Robert, that's pure Grant coming through.
When I first watched the top video I was like, "Oh cool, a pastry thing that maybe I'll make one day". Then I went to read the discussion portion and realized it was an explanation like your class sections, and by the end that "eh" changed into a "I absolutely need to make these first chance I get". As someone who checks your website every morning to see if there is any new content, I would be happy to see a lot more of this style - even if it means waiting a little longer between posts. Also I loved the "Yes! Don't you get it? You can make any shape you want!" part, just saying. Thanks for all the effort that you put into this post!Edit: Also, did find it wasn't necessary to rest your batter? I looked up some videos on canelés to make sure I was pronouncing it right, and they all call for a resting of the batter.
We totally welcome any critical feedback you have. We are doing this for your guys and if its not what you like make are to let us know how we can improve. Thanks for all the comments so far.
- originally posted by Grant Lee Crilly
Ok, more thoughts. I love this recipe and think you are taking everything in a great direction. As someone on Twitter I have been amazed at how much of a social presence you all of a sudden have and can see how this recipe takes that into account. With the Sansaire now hitting homes your website is going to be vitally important in 2014.This wasn't a normal ChefSteps recipe. It still had a ton of great information, but also sounded like a "welcome to Chefsteps, this is the high level of quality you will be experiencing when you visit this site." That may be what I meant by the "voice" of the recipe. The "hello, nice to meet you" aspect. I'm good with that and like I said earlier, I really like all of the tips and tricks and how easy you are making everything.The only slightest "but" I have is that, this recipe had to have taken forever to put together. If every recipe you posted after this contained this much information, that would be phenomenal. Especially for more savory things as I'm not a huge dessert/baking person. My only worry is that if you stick to these packed-with-information recipes, I'll be waiting 2 weeks for a new recipe, compared to how quickly I was used to some showing up. Then, if I'm not interested in that said recipe (and I guess this is more of a personal problem) then I'll have to wait another 2 weeks to hopefully get a recipe I'm interested in. I'm sure you've thought about. That was my only overwhelming thought though, besides how great this one recipe is written.At the end of the day I feel stupid for even voicing any slightly negative opinion about such AMAZING and FREE (!!!!) information. I truly am appreciative.
No worries, this is all very helpful. And you are right, this is more of a "Welcome to CS" recipe. But my plan was to be able to do this at least once a week. What do you think of the video as apposed to the informative style. We are trying to give you more information and are learning that is increasingly difficult to do in a 3 minute video.
Oh yeah, sorry, just watched it. I was at work and then I got home and just went right to commenting on the written recipe.I don't like the video. At all. It isn't ChefSteps. Maybe as a trailer for an upcoming recipe (release it a few days before?) it would get me interested and I would look forward to the day you upload the recipe, but I didn't take anything away from the video.I've made the molten chocolate souffle twice now. First I watched the video a few times. Then as I would work through the written recipe I could see the video in my head and think "here I use a wooden spoon," "here I use a whisk," and "here the texture needs to look just like this." I could replicate the techniques I saw in the video in my own kitchen and could replicate the final product because of the great and detailed recipe. Being able to see the type of pot, pan, kitchen utensil, sieve, or anything else that was a part of the recipe made everything so much easier and more enjoyable (I felt like I knew what I was doing!). I really liked the videos you guys would do for your previous recipes and would hate to see that format disappear. So much great technique for the amateur home cook and your videos were sometimes the last thing I needed to help me decide if I was going to do the recipe. I understand this is even more work for you guys now, but you asked. Sorry.
I really like this new recipe format. Love the -If this, then that- information.
- originally posted by Jarrad
I was wondering if the muffin tin variation could be adapted for a mini muffin tin. And if so how much batter would you recommend? The picture looks like a "normal" sized tin if i'm not mistaken.
Strange, I had a similar experience as well. After getting to the end of the post I grabbed my wallet and left the house in search or a canele mold. I visited a handful of respected cookware stores but could only find slighly similar aluminum molds. I bought a bunch of these cheaper moulds and then stopped by the bottle store and got a bottle of Kracken (which I suspect will also go swimmingly with the banana juice I just made).I will have tried my first batch by the end of the day! ... That is unusual for me.
I gotta say that I like the voice of the writing. Seems precise but with a ... human tone.
Wow, Grant. Absolutely Phenomenal.
Yes, absolutely. Do you have a digital scale at home, or no?
Try 20g for the minis!
Thank you Brian. It actually started as an example of what a user generated recipe could be. Then it became this...
Totally get that and agree with all you points @Robert. This was not actually supposed to be what it is now. In a perfect world(maybe that is soon) we will have 2 videos. One that lives in the ether that is the internet and the other instructional video that lives on the activity, for you.
Read the recipe once. Read it again. Posted above comment. Went to kitchen. Only enough milk for the kids cereal in the morning...or...just enough for a half batch of caneles. They are in the oven now.
The additional info is good, for a recipe like this I think it is better to have the info than the regular video. The reason I say this is because this formula contains less ingredients than pancake batter. I enjoyed seeing all the different trials, that way if I am out of bread flour I already know the different outcomes ahead of time. All the interactivity on this site is great and that is the only reason why I bought a class and will probably try more in the future.For more intricate techniques the videos are great but here the format works well.
- originally posted by Jared
Sorry about the mold thing. Someone... updated my horrible writing and added accents to all the "e's" in the the recipe. That broke all my links in the equipment. We will try to make sure that never happens again(by try I mean it will, but we will try:)Check above for the molds I use. I will say that although the copper molds are expensive they will last forever... unless they get crushed by a forklift or something.
Also, if you do not have a scale just eye ball it. Pour the batter up to about 4/5 ths the way to the top.
Delicious! I had aluminum molds sitting on an aluminum tray. There was 70g in each mold which filled it up about 4/5. Cooked in a non-convention oven for 58 mins as per recipe. The sides and bottom is very dark with a slight crunch. The tops were blond but this didn't bother me so much cause they are so delicious! The only thing that didn't turn out so well is that the center is a little too dense, it doesn't have that comb like texture I know it should.- What can I do to improve the internal texture? Will raising them off the baking tray with a cooling rack help at all?I can see these becoming a regular item in our household! They are super delicious.
Grant - Those were crazy easy and at least as delicious as promised. If anyone else has read this far and hasn't made these yet, do yourself a favor and start baking.
This is the most amazing thing ever. I thought it would be just a simple recipe then we get this? Then again, when you are talking about the mysterious Caneles, you can't really explain it simply, can you? Before this article, the only good, real source, for caneles was from Chez Pim's blog. I don't want to pay for the proper molds (yikes), so I have the silicon ones. Yes, I know it's not the real deal but I freeze them and I make the batter and it works just fine. I can't recall the differences between her recipe and ChefSteps but I do remember hers uses powdered sugar instead of granulated. (Saw you covered that above). I think your baking times are alot hotter and longer. I am sure yours are more scientifically "correct" but wow your crust is dark ... dare I say burnt? You are not getting any bitterness? Last question - there's no need to chill or rest the batter at all? You can cook it straight even with the hot butter?
- originally posted by sygyzy
Don't forget to press the orange Upload Your Own button at the end of the recipe and share that photo!
My batch definitely had some bitterness, ... but in a good way. Like it was supposed to be there. Bitter, sweet burnt sugar crust ... mmmmmmmmmm,
Awesome!Would love a recipe for madeleines next, or fondants/lava cake.I think I prefer to get the full recipe in the video next time, but that's just me!
In many recipes it's required to leave the batter overnight to remove air. I normally use my vacuum chamber sealer for that. What's your experience here?
Thank you for this! I've struggled through so many different recipes for these for a long time. Can't wait to try!
Jens, we actually have a video on removing air bubbles. Check it here: http://www.chefsteps.com/activ...
Huy is correct, check out that video. We found that there is a fine line between too much air and too little. After a few days of the batter resting we found it was actually too flat in texture. We tried blending= a bit too much air. Whisking= pretty nice bubble structure. And traditionally, some chefs swear by letting the batter rest several days. We found that letting it rest makes it more gummy as the gluten developed and the air is released. So its not good or bad, its just what texture do you want.
Thanks of your feedback. We will be doing the recipes in the video next time.
Of course you have a video on that :-) This is why I love chef steps so much - you have all the answers. The only video I miss is how to understand women :-)Thanks.
Great!I really feel that the videos would work as a "stand alone", and I can get the full recipe below if I need some details.Is there a recipe video for madeleines planned?
Any ideas on improving the internal texture?
Hey Chefsteps, great to have you back after a long hiatus. And with baking content no less! We can always use more pastry and baking. Some thoughts:- I've been meaning to do caneles since I saw them on Joe Pastry, will give them a try this weekend (sadly in muffin tins, no $30 a pop molds for me).- I miss the detailed recipe video; it's really nice to see the recipe come together so you have an idea what to expect. I suppose this recipe is simple enough that it's not essential.- But I LOVE the detailed info below; I'd lose all the recipe videos for recipe info this detailed.- I particularly like the "can I substitute" and "what if I don't have xyz" parts.- There's some doubled text in the "how big are canele molds" section.- "Treat like you would a cast iron" - I wouldn't mind a technique section on that! Lots of conflicting information on the Internet.- I enjoyed the slightly flippant tone of the writing :)Once again, really enjoyed this content. I can only assume we didn't see new recipes for a while because you were hard at work on this and the upcoming meat class (woohoo)
Slightly wetter batter will probably improve your internal texture. Your flour is likely slightly different than ours and needs just a bit more hydration to get a good result. Try increasing the liquid by 2% and see if the texture is better. If it's in the right direction, but still not quite there, try a bit more liquid.
Even, I posted a bit about our hiatus on the forum, but it's probably worth reposting here.ChefSteps has grown a lot over the last year. That's good news, but it has also stretched our team in unsustainable ways. Because we want to create and publish high-quality content, the ChefSteps team made a decision in late January to stop and overhaul our approach to creating and publishing content. It has taken longer to make these changes than we had hoped, but we are close to being in a place where we can create courses at the pace we would like, as well as creating free content like this that keeps ChefSteps vibrant and interesting for the community.We agree that this recipe does lack a classic ChefSteps "hero" video at that shows you how to prepare the recipe. That's because this recipe grew out of a quick attempt by Grant to explore more narrative focus. We liked the direction he was going, so a bunch of us got involved and slowed Grant down! But in the future, you'll can expect to see us exploring how to integrate the videos you know and love, with this narrative-style that reveals more of the journey we take towards developing the polished version you've come to expect from ChefSteps.
Thank you, I'll have another crack at this in a day or two.
Trying the recipe right now, I love the writing style and extra tips provided, this is awesome and you should definitely keep writing this way !I'll give some more feedback afterwards but small bug report : the quantity multiplier on top also modifies some quantities that should remain fixed. I noticed that the 70g for the ramequins and 655g for the cast iron pan gets modified by the multiplier, they shouldn't. Probably some others to.
Thanks for the heads-up. We've fixed the issue.
Glad to help !As I said previously, congrats to Grant for the recipe, the writing is both entertaining and incredibly informative. Also, the tips on variations are simply awesome, so again, thanks a lot for this new recipe format and this recipe in particular !I did a half recipe, which was perfect for doing 1 tartelette and 1 cast iron filling. I only had what I thought was an equivalent to all purpose flour around, called "type 45" here in France. But after digging a bit, it's equivalent to italian 000 which is way more of a pastry type flour than a bread flour.I tried the tartelette tonight, the flavor was impressively spot on ! Also, I was massively impressed at the crust I got on it, something I never managed to have on my previous mini-canelé attempts with other recipes. Am I right to assume that the sugar % is responsible for the crisping ?The only issue I had was the same as Rory, the inside texture was much closer to a flan than to a canelé, no aeration at all. Chris mentioned the wet ratio, I did a quick check on this recipe and my previous one, (milk + butter)/(sugar/flour) is 1.33 here, it was 1.57 on my previous one (which didn't crisp, I guess it makes sense !).I'll try to get a more appropriate bread type flour (sadly most bread flour here is bread mix with levener added and they hardly give any detail about the flour !) to see the difference, and also try increasing the wet ratio slightly with that basic flour to see what happens !
I have always checked the site, and frequently recommended it to friends who already enjoyed cooking. This has been my favorite update/recipe yet because of the presentation. I am sure it was more work intensive for you guys, but it was amazing and I would feel way more comfortable recommending the site to people who only cook occasionally. Always been a fan, but this is really great, thanks and I hope to see more of it.
Off to make them with a popover pan. Love the casual writing. Reminds me of the guys at mail chimp. Love a variety of videos. Different styles bring in different guests. Approachable professional and friendly. With a lot of time invested. Well done. Definitely not just medium well done.
I love everything about this recipe....all of the tips, tricks and substitutions are just perfect, exactly what I love about this site.
How would the batter hold up if you baked it in a waffle iron. They have funky ridges and allow for quick crisping through pretty intense heat, even browning and a moist interior if you use the commercial cast iron ones.
I have aluminum canelé molds and have made the canelés several times. Usually they are lopsided, but very tasty. I intend to try your method to see if the bread flour makes them prettier. Please tell me if I ought to season the aluminum molds. They are quite sturdy, not flimsy molds.
I have canelé molds and have made the pastries several times. They always turn out a bit lopsided, but are very tasty. I intend to try your recipe to see if the bread flour makes them prettier. I use sturdy aluminum molds. Ought I season these as you recommend for the copper ones? Thx
We have molds for different types of small cakes. And the same problem with getting them out of the mold. On top of that being whacked on the tabletop to get it out often destroyed the content. All that changed when we got molds coated with non-stick material. Just turn the mold around and a light tap and the content released. I am sure one could make non-stick coated molds for canelés. I might have a go at trying with those molds :-)
Great recipe, one technical question:I always assumed the 24h resting was for a gluten network to be formed, like a no knead bread. If so the blending would do this work, but the just whisk method would not work properly. Any comments or thoughts?Hell, I might even make two batches to compare, stay tuned for pics
I just received 50 lbs of einkorn wheat. I clearly want to experiment with this recipe. I have emptied my kitchen of all white, all purpose, mutated, dwarfed, chemically enhanced flour. Tasting this ancient flour is wonderful, it is simply delicious. Einkorn and spelt are from the MOTHER WHEAT. All wheat comes from einkorn. Why buy hybrid poison when you can have what our CREATOR put here for us to enjoy. GMO = GOD MOVE OVER or you can go back to natural. Sweet corn, flour and rice have all been radiated, mutated and altered from it's original creator life form. Tell everyone, research for yourself.
Has anyone tried substituting vanilla extract for the rum, either completely or partially?
- originally posted by Franzel
The best, and least expensive, place that I have found to buy the copper molds is through JB Prince. They range from $13-$20 depending on size. Still quite an investment but totally worth it if you can swing it. Thanks for all of the great recipes and insightful posts. Keep up the good work!
Just ordered some 3.5 cm copper molds from E. Dehillerin in Paris. Surprisingly enough they have the best prices, even factoring in shipping. Can't wait to try these out on my own!
How long should you bake if your using a madeline silicon mold in a non convection oven.
We'll add it to the queue, Robin!
Let us know how it goes!
So I baked my canales 3 ways. 1) in a silicon madeline mold - 50 minutes 2)in a muffin tin with chocolate - 58 minutes 3)in a cast iron pan - 90 minutes. All in non convection. The madelines came out burnt, i multiplied time by about 1.6, (.3 for non convection, .3 for silicon), the muffin innards were goey and the chocolate descened to the bottom, sticking to the bottom of the tin making them impossible to get out. The cast iron pan i didn't want to risk breaking the cake, so im letting it sit for 15 mins before attempting to get it out.
My first attempt in a steel popover pan. I went approximately 1 hr at 375 with convection and filled each cup w/ 70g of batter. I had a decent taste and crust but the inside was still a little bit doughy. Another 10-15 mins would have helped but I'm really happy with the first time results.
I also tried in muffin tins and the innards were gooey. Even though I brushed generous butter on to a cold pan, they still stuck..could only get them out by mangling them.
I used half vanilla extract and half water and the result was pretty tasty. The taste of the inside was a bit reminiscent of pancake or Dutch baby. Mine did stick horribly, but I assume that has nothing to do with the substitution of one alcohol for another.
I tried to make them in a muffin tin with the rum but due to a number of debacles, I ended up making something more akin to a Pastel de Belém. Still pretty tasty but I'll have to try again!
Pastel de Belém for me, too. At least the interior.
Love, love, love the comparative analysis photos - "here's this shape, here's that shape, here's this temperature, here's that temperature..." all over the site.
We are incorporating more of this into every future activity. Cant wait to do more of these and glad you like them.
Non stick muffin pans make a huge difference.
E. Dehillerin = about $15.00 each for 5.5 cm, incl. shipping to USA. Try this place = about $11.50 incl. shipping to USA: Labo & Gato, http://www.laboetgato.fr/
