Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux Pastry

I tried my hand at these delicious French treats, Canelé de Bordeaux made gluten free a while ago. I’ve been working on this recipe! That means making these Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux often! We’ve had to struggle through the test tastes! HAHA!

These small pastry cakes, with flavors of caramelized sugars and brown butter, rum and vanilla, are nothing short of amazing. I refined the recipe a little after the first tries, although even the first flops of these Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux Pastry were my husband’s favorite! That’s why they made it on his sixtieth birthday bash dessert bar!

These French pastries from the region of Bordeaux are firm and crisp on the outside. You can actually make a noise when you tap with your finger! When cooled their texture inside is still slightly soft and custard like. With flavors and aroma of browned sugar and rum. They’re pretty magical! You can embellish them with fruit or sauces or just serve them as is, or dust with powdered sugar just prior to serving.

More about canelé

These delicious pastries have been made in France for around 300 years. Made in small, fluted copper molds with a slight indent at the bottom of the pan. The mold is brushed with beeswax/ and or butter and they tray is often put in the freezer for a short amount of time before pouring the batter into the mold. The beeswax and/ or butter pool a bit there, and push the batter up the fluted sides to create delicious brown butter flavor and very crisp exterior texture.

The batter rises and puffs up from the eggs in the batter, but then settles back down to create the amazing interior. After baking, the molds are inverted and the delicate small 1 1/2 -2″ cakes are allowed to cool completely. The outside of the canelé will continue to crisp and harden as it cools, while the inside will remain soft and custard like.

Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux Pastry are definitely best when enjoyed the same day (after cooling completely) or at least within a day of baking.

Use the traditional copper molds or 6 or 12 hole pans

Although they are typically made in these single copper molds, for ease, I went with the 12 hole non-stick tin. The CHEFMADE Canele Mold Cake Pan, 12-Cavity Non-Stick Canele Muffin Bakeware Cupcake Pan for Oven Baking (Champagne Gold) worked wonderfully for these Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux. I may try the copper molds soon. However, since our family can eat quite a few of these and the process is a bit more involved, I may use the 12 hole pan most often.

I may purchase some of the copper molds soon to give them a try though! The prices on the copper molds vary quite a bit, I’ve found. Many of the single copper molds are $45-$99 each. You can also find them in 4 packs.

I can’t recommend any because I haven’t used them yet, but I do love the pretty decorations and styles of these, Darware Copper Canelé Pastry Molds (Set of 4 Shapes); 2-Inch Bordeaux French Custard Cannelés Cake Traditional Pastry Baking Molds with Heat-Conducting Copper. I’m not sure how they would perform.

Caution, if you do use a copper mold that has a tin interior, be sure to reduce the temperature of the oven to 440 degrees F or even less. I have read that the tin will begin to melt at about 445 degrees F!

A few things I learned along the way

I also learned a few things in the process. These crisp on the outside and soft, chewy, and almost doughy on the inside mini pastries have many variations to them. Delicious caramel and buttery flavors in most, although the methods vary.

But a few things are true in my little experience I have:

1. They come quite delicious when made gluten-free.
2. You really do need to refrigerate the batter for a day or at least overnight.
3. Using butter in place of the traditional beeswax or beeswax mixed with butter works pretty well.
4. Anything loaded with butter, eggs, and sugar is delicious.
5. Even the flopped canelé (where I didn’t refrigerate the batter for a day or overnight) is quite decadent and delicious (& a bit more like a candy).
6. The copper molds are traditional, and probably these come better when used, but the 12 hole non-stick mold (or 6 hole non-stick mold) will work also for a slightly easier method.
7. I now know my husband’s favorite treat. Cheesecake, has taken second place now. And like I said, I think he liked the flopped ones even more! (I will recreate the flop version soon).

Along with things above, I also learned that it’s very difficult to wait for the canelé to finish cooking and cooling completely before enjoying one! It smells so amazing as they are cooking and it’s so very tempting!

You may need to share the canelé in this recipe

I choose to make the recipe for eighteen of these delicious pastries. They seem to disappear very quickly around here. For our family, that is only 2 each!

If you do have any left, you can also serve the next day and they should retain most of their crispness, if stored in an airtight container. Another trick is to store that container in your oven (I always put a big note not to turn the oven on!) Some bakers also recommend putting the canelé in the refrigerator, while others do not.

Re-crisping the Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux

If the Gluten Free Canelé de Bordeaux does lose its firm crisp texture after a day or two, simply set the remaining canelé on a baking tray and heat for 12-15 minutes in a 350 degree F oven or until crisp on the exterior. Let cool completely before serving.

You can also make them in advance if you are making a large quantity or double recipe. You could make the first batch a day or two before a party and make the second batch on the day you plan to serve. Then just crisp the first batch as noted above.

For more mini desserts check out our Creamy Vanilla Custard Fruit Tarts (Gluten Free).

Psst…We’re on Pinterest! Check out our Mama Laura’s Kitchen Pinterest and pin your favorite recipes! Next holiday you’ll want to have this Gluten Free Cannoli saved and ready to go!