FFWD - Canneles for Dorie's Birthday

It's a special French Friday with Dorie this week, as today is Dorie Greenspan's birthday.  Happy birthday Dorie!

Our mission this week is to select one of the nominated recipes from Dorie's new book, Baking Chez Moi, and make and post about it.

I was pleased that one of the recipes was for canneles.  The recipe is posted online here.  I have had this on my "must make" list for a long time, and earlier this year, I had even bought a silicone mould to make my own canneles.

There has been a lot written about the difficulty of making canneles, what makes a perfect cannele, and tips and tricks for making them.  I have the fabulous advantage of having never laid eyes on a cannele in the flesh, so to speak, so I was guided entirely by Dorie's notes and the photographs that I found online.

The name of canneles comes from the fact that they are baked in moulds which make them "channelled".  Dorie says that traditionally they are baked until they turn almost as dark as nuggets of coal, and we were told to bake them until they became "very dark - black really".  This sounds counter-intuitive, but the idea is that canneles are all crispy, chewy caramelised sugar on the outside and soft and custardy on the inside.

Having never eaten a cannele before, I thought mine fitted the bill.  Of the 8 canneles that I made, two puffed up and never really fell down properly, so they were an odd shape.  The   others were certainly the right shape, and I think they were the right colour, according to Dorie's standards (cf other commentators).

However, it took an hour and a half to achieve this colour in my oven, not an hour.  I began to despair of ever getting even close, but I am happy with the end result.

I ate one of my canneles and thought it was good - it had a lovely, chewy outside and a soft, custardy middle as per Dorie's description. Now I just need to convince people at work that these little black cakes(?) are supposed to be like that and are really good. 

Check out what all the other Doristas made to celebrate by clicking on the links below:

Mini Cannelés

• Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Adriana from Great Food 360º
• Gaye from Laws of the Kitchen
• Sanya from Kitchen Therapy
• Mardi from eat.live.travel.write
• Kathy from Bakeaway with Me
• Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Tricia and Nana from Tricia and Nana Cooking with Dorie
• Katie from Prof Who Cooks

Chocolate Cream Puffs with Mascarpone Filling

• Mardi from eat.live.travel.write
• Cher from The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler
• Kathy from Bakeaway with Me

Paletes de Dames, Lille Style

• Tammy from Chez Nous
• Mary from Lights on Bright No Brakes
• Betsy from A Plateful of Happiness
• Rosa from One Expat's Life
• Teresa from One Wet Foot
• Diane from Cafe Mom Cooks
• Susan from Create Amazing Meals
• Emily from Emily's Cooking Foray
• Eileen from Cookbook Immersion Project

Brown Butter-Peach Tourte

• Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Cher from The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler
• Teresa from One Wet Foot
• Margaret from Tea and Scones
• Alice from A Mama, Baby & Shar-Pei in the Kitchen