Christine cannelés from Bordeaux

Directions

• Step 1 PREPARATION : Boil the milk and butter in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix in a large bowl, flour and sugar. Beat the yolk and the whole egg and incorporate them into flour/sugar mixture with the rum or Cointreau. Mix well and pour slowly and gradually the boiling milk into the bowl. Whisk with a whip. The batter should be as fluide as a pancake batter. Open the vanilla bean in 2 and add the small vanilla black seeds in the mixture. You can leave the vanilla bean in the batter but do not forget to remove it at the time of cooking.
• Step 2 Check that there are no lumps and refrigerate the batter for 24 hours to rest. When cooking, preheat the oven to 250° and remove the baking sheet. I put a sheet of baking paper (parchment) to protect the baking sheet because if the preparation overflows, the oven will smoke and it’s quite unpleasant…Pour the batter into molds, filling each about 3/4 full. The batter will rise.
• Step 3 THE COOKING PROCESS It is done in 2 stages. First, 15 minutes in a hot oven 240°. Then, one hour at 180°. The cannelés should have a deep brown crust color on top and should be stuffy inside. Wait a few minutes to unfold the cannelés so you won’t burn yourself. It is a delicate operation. What I prefer is tasting them barely warm. They are also delicious cold. The cannelés keep well but are better the first 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.