Canneles

I recorded this recipe long before I ever tasted a cannele (which I finally did on holiday in Paris, oh my word). We ended up buying the cannele molds in Paris, but haven't used them yet - I'm writing down the recipe as a reminder and inspiration.

3 1/4 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

4 T unsalted butter

3 eggs

2 T dark rum

2 cups plus 2 T sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

Special equipment: 12 to 16 cannele molds or other baking molds that fit about 1/2 cup, or 2 muffin tins

2 days before planning to serve: Combine the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature; cover and refrigerate overnight to infuse the vanilla into the milk.

1 day before planning to serve: Melt the butter. Whisk the eggs into the chilled milk mixture, then add run and melted butter. Add the sugar and flour and whisk to combine. Refrigerate overnight.

Day of serving: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Thickly grease the molds with butter and chill them until the butter is firm. Remove the vanilla bean pieces from the batter and whisk the batter one more time to mix it thoroughly. Pour into the molds, filling them not to the top as they will expand a bit as they bake.

Place the filled molds on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan. Bake until they are very, very dark brown on the outside, about an hour. Check regularly after 45 minutes to ensure they are not turning black. 

Turn out of molds while still warm.