The Perfect Canelé

Published on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, by Leslie Jonath, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith / Edit Post

The Perfect Canelé

By Leslie Jonath, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith

You’ve got your croissants, your éclairs, your macarons. Maybe a madeleine if you’re Proust-y. They’re good, yes. But consider the canelé. On assignment for Afar magazine, Tasting Table San Francisco editor Scott Hocker traveled throughout France in search of the best. Stateside, his canelé of choice is at Boulettes Larder. Chef Amaryll Schwertner’s dedication to these custard-cake hybrids is unparalleled: She only makes a dozen a day, so each one has to be perfect. Hocker gathers some of her secrets, including an unexpected use of beeswax.

The unparalleled. The best in show. We call it The Perfect: our video series on how something so very good gets to be that way. Image of the silicone canelé mold courtesy of Flickr member grongar.

ALLThe Perfect
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COMMENT

  • I drove all the way from Santa Cruz to try these amazing Canele's after seeing the video on CHOW. What an amazing experience! So worth the trip! Yum, so well done xoxo Anna

  • Try the Caneles by SociaEats, sold at the Smorgasburg market in Williamsburg on Saturdays.

  • The canele from balthazar i've had have blown. A video of someone who makes 12 a day is preposterous. Scott appears to have the vapors as he waxes sanctimoniously about this dubiously notable feat.

  • Balthazar Bakery in Englewood, NJ makes authentic cannelle in copper molds brushed with butter and organic beeswax.

  • I had the most tasty canneles at a market in Uzes, France.

  • I ate them from a stand in the Farmer's market. YUM! I wish I could remember the name of the Bakery that made them.

  • Chocolate and Zuchini did a blog post on making them about a year or so ago:
    http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2005/10/caneles.php

  • my cannele of choice in the u.s. is in San Fran at La Boulange on Pine at Fillmore.a divine combination of crunchy and creamy.

  • Gaetano, even beekeepers cannot get beeswax without pesticide, no matter what it is called. We just don't live in that kind of world any more. Bees do not mind their keepers, they go where they will. Pesticide persists in the environment for decades or longer. It is a problem. It may be one component of CCD, though there are other issues such as diseases and parasites and even the stress of...+READ

    Gaetano, even beekeepers cannot get beeswax without pesticide, no matter what it is called. We just don't live in that kind of world any more. Bees do not mind their keepers, they go where they will. Pesticide persists in the environment for decades or longer. It is a problem. It may be one component of CCD, though there are other issues such as diseases and parasites and even the stress of having your hive thrown on the back of a truck and being treated as poorly as we treat human migrant farm workers.

    That said, this video got to me. I had never had canelé. And I happened to be up in the Boston area a couple of weeks ago. I popped into Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline with bostoks on my mind. They had canelé and I got four with the intention of sharing them with friends I was on my way to meet.

    Um, er, I ate them all.
    In the car.
    Before I had gone a mile.

    Yeah, they're good, those canelé.-COLLAPSE

  • Canele aren't as precious as that blowhard and the sanctimonious spinster suggest.

    PIP organic beeswax is available easily.

    Baking 12 a day and posing like Pierre Herme is preposterous.

    Arg recipes are easily available. Google canele Philly or Zucchini and Chocolate canele. Egullet has ton of online info on canele.

    There is a video of french folks baking canele in a bakery where they...+READ

    Canele aren't as precious as that blowhard and the sanctimonious spinster suggest.

    PIP organic beeswax is available easily.

    Baking 12 a day and posing like Pierre Herme is preposterous.

    Arg recipes are easily available. Google canele Philly or Zucchini and Chocolate canele. Egullet has ton of online info on canele.

    There is a video of french folks baking canele in a bakery where they actually produce hundreds daily at Le canele Baillardran's website. I'm afraid to supply the link here because Chow has become arrogant and bloated to the point where they suppress links to valuable competing info.-COLLAPSE

  • Pity about the beeswax. It means you get a dose of pesticide with every canele you eat.

  • I found the recipie for "Canele de Boureax" as follows:
    Paula-Wolfort.com
    now if anyone has the scoop on where to get the 3" moulds for less that a kings ransom would be appreciated!

  • I believe there's a recipe in Nancy Silverton's Pastry book, Argol.

  • Until the real thing comes along, Trader Joe's were carrying caneles in the frozen section and they were pretty good!

  • I agree. They look delicious but how do you make them?

  • A recipe would have been nice.