Pastry Wednesday: Cannelés

It's Wednesday! Pastry Wednesday blog is up! This is not a miracle, but a result of having to wait for a new episode of "Modern Family" to load since the internet in my room isn't exactly the best. I really have nothing else to do.

For the past month, I've walked past a stand on Rue Victor Hugo that has these intriguing tiny cake things. Every day, I would fantasize about what they would taste like, what kind of cake they were made of, etc. Based on their appearance, I guessed they were some kind of yellow cake, perhaps drenched in honey or caramel. I did not research what I soon discovered were called "cannelés," as I was under the impression that all French pastries are delicious and you can't go wrong with something that's probably cake and probably dipped in honey.

I purchased one of these darling little guys for 1.30 euros. "Should I get two?" I pondered, but then realized that it was "Pastry" and not "Pastries" Wednesday. I really can't afford a second seat on the airplane back for my soon-to-be massive bulk. Anyway, I excitedly went over to a bench, sat down, and took the first bite of the supposed "cake." Quelle surprise! The cannelé was in every way the opposite of what I thought it would be, and NOT in a good way. First of all, it did not taste like, cake, honey, or caramel. It tasted like rum. And not a nice rum flavor that reminds you of Christmas and rum balls and spice cake, but a stale, sickly rum flavor that reminds you of a certain time(s) when upsetting amounts of rum were consumed. Secondly, the texture was all wrong. It was almost like a giant crépe was put in a mold, and came out gummy, chewy, and eggy. It was not cake. Nothing at all like cake. It was so terrible I almost didn't eat all of it. However, I tried to convince myself that it was just so unlike what I had fantasized about for a month that I didn't know how to process it.

Completely disillusioned, I scoured the internet for answers. What I found was in fact, very helpful. These pastries, fully named "Cannelés Bordelais," are quite rare due to the fact that they are very difficult to make correctly. According to numerous blogs, they are supposed to be caramelized and crispy on the outside (due to ingredients like BEESWAX) and soft and custardy inside. This is nothing like mine, which wasn't crispy at all, and seemed to have the same gummy texture throughout. I read the blog of a woman who tried for months to get them completely right. (here's a link, it's a really interesting blog, actually: http://chezpim.com/bake/canele-recipe-method)

Based on this thorough research, I've decided that my cannelé was defective, and I'll scour Lyon for the perfect one. I refuse to believe that something that looks so delicious can taste that bad. Like people, pastries should not be judged by one sub-par member of their species. I'm no pastryist.