Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.

Grant Crilly

3-quart Saucepan

The Control Freak™ Home

Digital instant-read thermometer

Breville Super Q™

Baking/Cooling rack(s)

1/4 Sheet pan(s)

Canelé molds

2-quart Saucepan

4-ounce Ladle

Blowtorch

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Whole milk

Granulated sugar

Unsalted butter

Egg yolk(s)

Bread flour

Dark rum

Kosher salt

Vanilla bean

Neutral oil

Beeswax

Clarified butter

Bread flour: Because bread flour has more gluten potential, it produces canelés with a denser, chewier, and more pleasing internal texture than ones made with all-purpose flour.

Vanilla: This recipe calls for vanilla bean seeds or extract. If using vanilla bean, the scraped pod can be reserved for another use or discarded. You can substitute 15 g (1 tablespoon) of vanilla extract for the vanilla bean seeds.

Beeswax: You will need food-grade beeswax to coat the canelé molds, which can be purchased at specialty food stores and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/US-Organic-Beeswax-Pastilles-Certified/dp/B01LYTDU7K/?tag=chefsteps02-20&th=1">online</a>. For more about why we use beeswax, check out the tip under Step 4.

Canelé molds: Traditional canelé molds have narrow, tall, fluted sides made from tinned copper—copper is an excellent conductor of heat, and the tin that lines the interior helps to prevent the batter from sticking to the sides. The molds come in a range of sizes, the most common of which are 55-, 45-, and 35-mm-tall molds. We recommend using large <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AILZ9E?linkCode=ll1&tag=chefsteps02-20&th=1">55-mm molds</a> because we like the ratio of crisp crust to custardy interior they produce.

These molds aren’t cheap; we recommend purchasing 6 molds, or at least 4, and then bake canelés in batches.

Before we begin

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and butter. Set over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted, sugar is dissolved, and mixture registers no higher than [f 150] on an instant-read thermometer, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat milk and melt butter

Transfer heated milk mixture to the jar of a countertop blender, along with egg yolks, flour, rum, salt, and vanilla (if using). Blend on low speed for 15 seconds. Using a spatula, scrape down sides of the pitcher and below blender blade to dislodge any clumps of flour. Continue blending on low speed until batter is smooth and homogeneous, about 15 seconds longer.

Transfer batter to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 24 and up to 72 hours.

Make batter and chill overnight

Resting canelé batter is important for producing even browning on the crust. There’s actually a Goldilocks range for resting.

Too fresh (under 24 hours): If the batter is too fresh, it will produce uneven spotting on the exterior because the batter will rise more due to trapped air. The canelés will also have a wrinkly <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/light-crispy-popovers">popover</a> exterior with a cakey interior.

Just right (24 to 72 hours): When rested for the appropriate amount of time, trapped air in the batter will dissipate, so the canelés won’t puff up as much when baked. This improves the surface area contact between the sides of the mold and the canelé’s exterior, producing even browning. On the interior, the batter will still look pale and eggy, as it won’t have had a chance to oxidize.

Too old (over 72 hours): The batter will begin to ferment in the fridge, altering the flavor and producing denser, chewier canelés with irregular spotting on the outside. Older batter will also oxidize in the refrigerator, turning an unappealing gray, which carries through to the baked canelés.

For the best canelés, age the batter.

Set a wire rack in a 1/4 sheet pan. Place dry canelé molds in a 3-quart saucepan and cover with neutral cooking oil.

Set saucepan over high heat and bring oil to [f 390], about 10 minutes. Using tongs, carefully transfer canelé molds prepared sheet pan, arranging them open-side down. Transfer sheet pan to refrigerator and chill molds until cool to the touch, about 20 minutes.

Repeat process 4 more times. The exterior of the molds should change color from shiny copper to muted brass.

Once canelé molds are cool to the touch, wipe them out with a paper towel. They are now ready to be used; keep them on the wire rack set in the sheet pan.

Season canelé molds

Canelé molds must be seasoned, just like cast iron or carbon steel pans, to make them as nonstick as possible. Instead of oiling the molds and heating them in an oven to set the seasoning, it’s easier to heat them in a pot of oil, essentially “deep-frying” them. Once seasoned, the molds will hold their seasoning for at least 3 rounds of baking before they need to be re-seasoned.

When working with brand-new molds, it’s important to thoroughly wash and dry them with soapy water before seasoning to remove any wax or oil coating applied to them by the manufacturer to prevent rusting.

You do not need to wash canelé molds with soap and water between bakes—just wipe them out with a paper towel, making sure to dislodge any crumbs and stuck-on bits of batter.

The importance of seasoning copper canelé molds

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to [f 475] if using a conventional oven, or [f 450] with fan on high if using a convection oven.

Set a wire rack in a second 1/4 sheet pan and set aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine beeswax and clarified butter and heat over low heat until fully melted, about 5 minutes.

Working with one canelé mold at a time, hold mold over saucepan and, using a 2- or 4-ounce ladle, fill mold about halfway with warm beeswax-butter mixture. Rotate mold to evenly coat the interior, then pour excess back into saucepan.

Invert mold onto the first prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining molds. Transfer sheet pan to oven and bake until excess beeswax-butter mixture melts and drips onto sheet pan, leaving a thin coating on interior of molds, about 1 minute. Alternatively, use a blowtorch to melt excess beeswax-butter mixture.

Using tongs, transfer molds to the second prepared sheet pan, open-side up, and refrigerate until molds are cold to the touch, about 15 minutes.

Return first sheet pan to oven to remelt beeswax-butter mixture that has solidified on bottom of pan, about 1 minute. Once melted, carefully pour mixture from sheet pan back into saucepan with remaining mixture. Set aside first sheet pan for coating molds in subsequent batches. Keep oven on.

Coat molds with beeswax and clarified butter

Canelés are characterized by a crisp shell-like exterior that’s achieved by coating the insides of the molds with some kind of fat before baking the batter at a high temperature. Traditionally, the ingredient of choice for coating molds is beeswax because it produces a nonstick coating and helps to give a canelé’s exterior its characteristic shine and crisp shell.

When we first published our canelé recipe years ago, food-grade beeswax was expensive and hard to find. Fast forward to now and it’s much easier to source.

We’ve found that a 50:50 mixture of beeswax and clarified butter (by weight) works better than using pure beeswax. Butter has a lower melting point than beeswax, which produces canelés with a more pleasant mouthfeel when served at room temperature. We don’t recommend using whole butter because it adversely affects the evenness of browning in two ways: Milk solids will brown faster, and the water in whole butter produces steam, which will make the batter more likely to soufflé. This disrupts the surface area contact between the exterior of the canelé and the mold, producing uneven browning.

To clarify butter, check out our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/clarified-butter-ghee">recipe</a>. 

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Precision Clarified Butter

Beeswax and clarified butter: the magic canelé coating

The best and most beautiful canelés are made in traditional copper molds. However, if you don’t want to splurge for them, you can bake the batter in other vessels and still achieve delicious results. During our original trials, we tested cooking canelé batter in several different baking vessels, some of which you probably already have in your kitchen.

For every version, it’s important to unmold the cooked pastries while they’re still hot, just like with traditional canelés.

Silicone molds: Affordable and easy to work with (no seasoning required), silicone molds are a great alternative that can produce the iconic canelé shape. They won’t produce the same degree of browning or crispness for the crust because silicone is nowhere near as good a conductor of heat as copper, which means the canelés won’t be as flavorful or as pleasant to eat, but even a canelé made in a silicone mold is a delicious and unique eating experience.

We filled the molds just like the traditional molds and baked them at [f 375] for 1 hour.

Madeleine molds: Baking in madeleine molds produced canelés that were less custardy and drier. Because the surface is so exposed to the heat of the oven, we couldn’t bake them for as long as would be necessary to develop a crispy, burnished crust on the bottom. And even when pulling them early, the edges were susceptible to burning.

We filled the molds and baked them at [f 375] for 30 minutes.

Ramekins: The ramekins needed to be generously greased to make sure we could get the canelés out after baking. While the interiors were very moist, the exteriors never got sufficient browning, mostly because ramekins are not made of very conductive material.

We greased the ramekins generously, poured 70 g batter into each ramekin, and baked them at [f 375] for 45 minutes.

Cast iron pan: These were very difficult to unmold—the pan, like the ramekins, needs to be greased generously. Because there’s so much surface area, the batter soufflés and collapses, just like a Dutch baby. It has decent crust development but a dense interior.

We greased a 9-inch cast iron pan generously, added 655 g batter, and baked it at [f 375] for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Muffin tins: These were also pretty sticky, and we preferred using muffin tins with dark metal for better conductivity, which promoted good color development. These were one of our favorite variations—nice, custardy interiors but with spotty coloring on the exterior.

We poured 70 g batter into each cup and baked them at [f 375] for 45 minutes.

Tart pans: Our favorite of all the non-canelé-mold variations! The fluted edges of the pan are reminiscent of the channels in a traditional mold, and they produced a really crunchy crust. A little tricky to unmold; make sure the tart pan is well-seasoned. The end result was sort of like a thick graham cracker with a gooey filling.

We filled the tart pans and baked it at [f 375] for 40 minutes.

No canelé molds? Here are some alternatives.

Once coated molds are chilled and batter is chilled and rested, fill canelé molds with batter, leaving about 1/4-inch headspace from top of mold. For 55-mm molds, use about 70 g batter per mold. Return molds to sheet pan.

Fill molds

Transfer sheet pan to oven and bake canelés until batter becomes spottled brown on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

First phase bake to set exterior

Lower oven temperature to [f 375] if using a conventional oven, or [f 350] with fan on low if using a convection oven, and continue baking until batter is burnished brown on top, 15 to 20 minutes longer.

Using tongs, unmold one canelé; the sides should all be the same burnished brown as the top. If that’s the case, proceed to Step 8. If the sides are still mottled and blond, return to oven and continue baking in 5-minute intervals, checking sides of the same canelé after each interval, until sides are burnished brown.

Second phase bake to finish

The instructions in the Joule Oven badges above will produce amazing canelés, but if you have a Joule Oven and want to take it a step further, you can use a unique, Breville+ Cooking app-exclusive baking mode—called the “Bottom Bake”—to produce even better results.

Bottom bake mode uses 100% of the power from the bottom heating elements and just 25% of the power from the top heating elements. It’s ideal for things like pizza, pie crust, and the socarrat on paella.

With the bottom bake mode, we found that a three-stage baking process yields superior canelés.

To access the bake mode from the Breville+ Cooking app, tap on “Start a cook” for your oven, scroll down and select “Bottom Bake” from the list of app-exclusive modes, and then set the baking temperature and choose the convection setting.

Here are the three stages:

First phase:
Bottom bake mode with convection at [f 450].
Rack position 7.
Bake 15 minutes.
 
Second phase:
Bottom bake mode with convection at [f 400].
Rack position 7.
Bake 15 minutes.
 
Third phase:
Bake mode with convection at [f 400].
Rack position 7.
Bake 15 minutes.

Use the Breville+ Cooking app and Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro to hack the ultimate canelés.

One of the most difficult parts about baking canelés is that you can’t really use obvious visual or temperature cues to judge doneness. Since you’re baking them at such a high temperature, the exposed top doesn’t tell you much about what’s going on inside. Even if the batter is technically “cooked” from a temperature perspective, the canelés may not be done, because much of the process is focused on producing that unique burnished exterior. The true visual cue—the degree of browning on the exterior and “bottom” of the mold—is hidden.

This is why we instruct you to use one canelé as a “tester.” By removing it from the mold, you can judge the doneness of the exterior, and since all the molds are basically identical—made of the same material, filled with the same amount of batter, cooked at the same temperatures for the same amount of time—it should be an accurate indicator for the doneness of them all.

The good news? Once you dial in the bake time for your first batch, the subsequent batches should all bake up in the same amount of time.

Souffléing and canelés:
When checking canelés for doneness, you may notice the batter souffléing up over the edges of the molds. This can affect the browning on the exterior, as it affects the surface area contact between the batter and the molds and, consequently, the evenness of the browning.

A little souffléing is to be expected, which is why we instruct you to leave 1/4 inch of headspace when filling the molds. But if the batter starts to soufflé high above the edge of the mold, there’s an easy fix: Using tongs, give the molds several firm taps on a counter to settle the batter back down in the molds, then continue baking.

Determining canelé doneness

Transfer sheet pan to a heatproof surface. Using tongs, invert molds to release canelés. If canelés don’t release, tap molds firmly on counter to help them release.

Transfer canelés to wire rack, flat-side down, and cool at room temperature until exterior is hard to the touch, about 1 hour.

While canelés cool, return canelé molds to first sheet pan, and refrigerate molds until cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.

Unmold and cool

Canelés need time to cool after baking so that the exterior hardens, which will create the iconic textural contrast between the crisp crust and custardy interior. Right out of the oven, the exterior of the canelé will be soft and chewy, and the interior will be very tender. As the canelés cool, the outside of the canelé will set into a crunchy shell and the inside will have a tender chew; the interior will also taste less eggy so you can better taste the notes of caramel and dark rum (and vanilla, if you added it).

Canelés: a pastry best served at room temp

Increase oven temperature back to [f 475] if using a conventional oven, or [f 450] with fan on high if using a convection oven.

Once molds are cool, wipe them out with a paper towel and repeat Step 4 through Step 8 twice more to yield 18 canelés total. Leftover beeswax-butter mixture can be saved for making more canelés in the future; transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 months.

Bake more canelés

Cleaning up the beeswax-butter mixture is a messy business—it’s really hard to scrub it off with soap and water, especially if there’s a lot of it caking your pans. The best way to get your tools clean is to melt off as much beeswax as possible before cleaning.

Here’s how to do it:

Preheat oven to [f 200].

Invert molds on sheet pan and transfer sheet pan to oven. Bake until beeswax is completely melted, about 5 minutes. Pour melted beeswax into a container and wipe out molds and sheet pan with a paper towel.

Repeat process once more, then wash molds and sheet pan with warm soapy water. Dry molds thoroughly before putting them away.

Mind your beeswax

Once canelés have cooled to room temperature, serve.

If making canelés in advance, canelés can be stored at room temperature, uncovered, for up to 48 hours.

Serve

Step 1: Scale all ingredients first
Professional cooks always measure ingredients, organize tools, and complete prep work before they start cooking. This practice, which professionals call mise en place, also makes cooking at home much easier. Take time to read this entire recipe, then assemble your tools and ingredients in advance. Mise en place makes cooking and cleanup more efficient—and more fun.
 
CHEF’S TIP: Substitute any liquor or spirit for the rum. Try bourbon or pastis. Dang, try Grand Marnier or Campari!
 
Step 2: Heat milk and butter
Heat the milk and butter together on medium-low heat until the butter is completely melted.
 
Step 3: Make batter
Place sugar, flour, egg yolk, rum, and salt in a blender. Blend on the slowest speed and slowly incorporate the warm milk and butter. Blend for about 1 minute or until smooth. You should have a very thin batter.
 
HOME-COOK HACK: If you don’t have a blender, don’t worry. Just whisk as hard as you can! You may end up with a slightly less uniform batter, but your canelés will still be delicious.
 
Step 4: Butter the molds
Melt some butter and brush it into cool molds. Don’t be shy with the butter, or your life will be difficult later—canelés can stick like the dickens!
 
CHEF’S TIP: Try refrigerating the molds before brushing them with melted butter. Melted butter applied to a cold mold will coat more evenly (rather than sink to the bottom), leading to a more uniform crust and easier cleanup.
 
TIP: Use butter instead of beeswax.
Traditionally, bakers lined canelé molds with beeswax instead of butter. We’ve found that while this may keep them fresher for slightly longer and may help preserve your copper molds, the sourcing and extra work aren’t worth the payoff for home cooks.
 
Grant has tried lining the molds with wax, glycerides, different fats, and crystallized sugars, and he has found that butter yields a perfectly clean, crispy crust without all the mess. Wax is also not very pleasant to eat, but we’ve heard butter is very pleasant.
 
Step 5: Fill molds
Fill small canelé molds with 20 g of batter each. Fill large canelé molds with 70 g of batter each. If you don’t have a scale, fill cups about four-fifths full.
 
CHEF’S TIP: Pour batter into cups placed evenly on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. This way, if any batter spills during baking, you won’t have to scrape burned, sugary batter off the bottom of your oven.
 
Step 6: Bake
Bake small canelés at [f 375] for 26 minutes in a convection oven. Bake large ones at [f 375] for 45 minutes in a convection oven.
 
If you don’t have a convection oven, set the oven temperature to [f 375] and increase baking time by 30% (26 minutes becomes 34 minutes; 45 minutes becomes 59 minutes).
 
TIP: They may look done, but keep ’em in for the full baking time.
Our baking instincts often tell us that when it’s golden brown, it’s done. Though your canelés may look finished after 10 minutes or so, they aren’t.
 
An undercooked canelé will have a raw, gooey interior that will deflate like a soufflé, and the crust will be soft and underdeveloped. So, keep baking until they’re very dark on top.
 
Step 7: Remove canelés from molds while hot
While canelé molds are still hot, grab each one with a towel and bang it upside down on a tray as soon as possible to release the pastry.
 
Removing the canelés quickly is crucial for two reasons. First, if you allow the sugars to cool down inside the mold, they will quickly crystallize and stick to the mold, which means lots of cleaning. Second, canelés that are allowed to cool quickly will develop a much thicker, crunchier crust.
 
TIP: Crisp up your baked goods.
Canelés need to dry quickly in order to develop a thick, crunchy outer layer. If you release them from the molds right away, moisture will evaporate rapidly, and they will crisp right up. 
 
This concept actually works well for any baked good made in a mold: If you want crispy banana bread crust, for example, take the loaf out of the mold while hot and let it rest. If you prefer a soft, sticky surface on your banana bread, leave it in the loaf pan to cool slowly. For super-sticky baked goods, wrap the entire mold in plastic wrap while still warm.
 
Grant learned this while living in France, working as a baker and studying pastry. Most mornings, he loved to walk from his studio down to the Place de la Concorde and peruse the pastry offerings. There were 8 vendors who sold handmade pain d’épice (winter spice bread, or “spice bread”), and each loaf was completely different. Some bakers preferred an air-dried, crunchy crust, while others aged their bread for up to 2 weeks in plastic wrap for a soft, sticky exterior. All of the breads were probably made with similar ingredients, but just a slight change in technique can completely alter the eating experience of any one product.
 
Step 8: Allow to cool completely; eat! 
This is how they should look when made with bread flour: dense and moist on the inside, with a seriously thick, caramelized crust.
 
Other tests
We ran lots of tests for other ingredients, flavors, and shapes. We tried chocolate, maple, and ham and cheese; we tried different flours, sugars, and fats; we tried tons of different shapes and sizes—and (almost) all the results were delicious. Scroll below to find yummy variations that you can make at home tonight.
 
Chive and gruyère
Substitute 100 g isomalt for the 375 g sugar in the original recipe. Remove all the rum; add 200 g grated Gruyère cheese and 20 g chives. Blend all ingredients and bake in a 350 °F / 177 °C oven for 50 minutes if using large molds, 30 minutes if using small ones.
 
Try substitutions for other savory flavors and be willing to mess up and try again. We arrived at this formula only after about 50 trials!
 
Ham and cheese
Substitute 100 g isomalt for the 375 g sugar in the original recipe. Remove all the rum; add 250 g grated Gruyère cheese and 300 g applewood-smoked ham. Blend all ingredients and bake in a 375 °F / 191 °C oven for 45 minutes if using large molds (with 70 g of batter in each), or 26 minutes if using small ones (with 20 g of batter in each).
 
Maple
Add 25 g of maple extract and 4 g salt to the original recipe. Add all ingredients to the blender and combine. Baking times will not vary from the original recipe.
 
Canelés au chocolat
Drop 6 g of room-temperature dark chocolate pistoles into the center of each mold after it is filled with batter. Bake as normal.
 
HOME-COOK HACK: Replace the dark chocolate pistoles with a Hershey’s Kiss or a few chocolate chips.

Milk

Butter

Sugar

Salt

The original recipe

Canelés are best enjoyed within 48 hours of baking.

Batter can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Gently stir batter before baking.

Beeswax-butter mixture can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Melt in a small saucepan over low heat before using.
Molds can be seasoned, coated, and chilled up to 2 weeks in advance.

Make-ahead and storage

A canelé is a classic French pastry made from eggs, milk, flour, butter, and sugar. These little two-bite morsels encapsulate everything you want in a pastry: a delicate balance of sweet and savory flavors and a crunchy caramelized crust that gives way to a custardy interior.Pastry enthusiasts who evangelize canelés will tell you that the real things are available only in some fairy tale town tucked away in Bordeaux—where canelés originated—to which you most certainly cannot travel. And perhaps the elusive French baker who created them also died long ago, again decreasing your chances of ever experiencing this French culinary treasure.But part of our mission is to make the impossible possible. With this recipe and the proper copper molds, you can make canelés that are worthy of selling at any patisserie in France. Nestle into your breakfast nook with a café au lait and a handful of canelés, and create your own little slice of Bordeaux. EDITORS’ NOTE: We’ve updated this recipe to employ a two-phase baking process and a beeswax-clarified butter coating for the molds. The ingredient amounts and ratios for the batter are the same, but if you prefer to use the original recipe, we’ve included it as a tip at the end of the recipe before the make-ahead and storage instructions.