Canelé

A canelé is a small French pastry with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. It takes the shape of small, striated cylinder approximately five centimeters in height and is a specialty of the Bordeaux region of France. It can often be found in Parisian pâtisseries as well. Made from egg, sugar, milk and flour flavored with rum and vanilla, the custard batter is baked in a fluted mold.

History

The modern word "canelé" originates in Gascon, which was spoken in Bordeaux and a large area of southwestern France until the 19th century.

In Limoges, there was a food called canole, a bread made with flour and egg yolks, which may be the same item as that sold in Bordeaux since the 18th century under the name of canaule, also written canaulé or canaulet. Artisans known as canauliers who specialized in baking them registered a Corporation (or guild) with the Parliament of Bordeaux in 1663, which allowed only them to produce several specific foods: Blessed bread, canaules, and Retortillons. Since they were not a part of the Pastry Corporation (Guild), which had a monopoly over baking with milk and sugar or mixtionnée dough, they were prohibited from using those ingredients. The canauliers disputed the Pastry Chefs' privileges and on 3 March 1755 the council of State in Versailles ruled for the canauliers and ended the Pastry Chefs' monopoly. An edict of 1767 limited the number of authorized canaulier shops in a city to eight. It created very strict requirements for joining the profession. Nevertheless, in 1785 there were at least 39 canaulier shops in Bordeaux, at least ten of which were in the district of Saint-Seurin. The French Revolution abolished all the Corporations, but later census rolls continue to show shops of Canauliers and bakers of "blessed bread".