So….what the heck is that fuhnk-ay lookin’ thing??
Why, glad you asked. It’s a silicone canelé mold.
What’s a canelé?
Why, glad you asked that as well.
A canelé (or alternatively, a cannelé) (pronounced KAH-nuh-lay), is an absurdly delicious, incredibly rich, creamy yet crispy, custardy yet caramelized, sadly ephemeral “cookie” (or really, I think, but what do I know, more of a tiny, tea-cake type creature) that are originally from the Bordeaux region of France. Canelés can be eaten for tea, for breakfast, as a dessert, a snack, or what I think is most intriguing….as a nibble with a cocktail or an aperitif wine! I can so totally see that.
They are typically baked in a tin-lined copper mold, the interior of which is coated with bee’s wax to allow the canelé to slip out. The batter is essentially a rich crêpe batter, but heavy with sugar, which causes the caramelization of the exterior (which gives you the lovely, crust effect), and without the bee’s wax, you could never remove the canelé from the mold.
Actually, even WITH the bee’s wax, removing the canelé from the mold is a crap shoot. Thankfully, the culinary gods have given us silicone molds. Those babies make it a snap to make canelés, and get what the French have coveted for a century or so.
I first heard about canelés on a culinary chat board site I frequent, the eGullet Society Forums. You’ll also find a link to the main page over to the right. It’s a cool site, and if you’re not familiar with it, you should check it out. It’s got a wealth of information from a lot of people who really know their stuff. At any rate, a while back there was an entire, fairly long, discussion thread about canelés. And they sure sounded intriguing to me. Seriously, what’s not to like about a little, two-bite sized nibble of eggy, sugary, custardy goodness, surrounded by that caramelized sugar crust?
Well, except for that whole bee’s wax coated mold and sticking thing.