[Sca-cooks] Information and History of Cannelés

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach <emma at protege.sca.org>:
>Greetings,
>
>I'm new to this list...so let me introduce myself before asking questions. :)
>
>I'm Emma Dandelion from Drachenwald most recently. I love to bake and cook
>all manner of dishes.  I especially love trying to make new sweet things.

Welcome, Emma!

>I already have several modern recipes on cannelés.
>
>I have been searching for more information about Cannelés, they have
>crunchy outsides, soft insides (kind of like custard), and are crown
>shaped, but they are not like anything I've ever had before.  I only know
>that they are from the Bourdeaux Region of France and date to about the
>14th century.  Any further information would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, at the moment all I can turn up is 
another modern recipe. I'm surprised to note that 
my edition of the Larousse Gastronomique contains 
no reference to these.

Based on the recipe and your description, these 
sound almost like a macaroon, but with a much 
moister center. For the benefit of others on this 
list, this dish is almost like a pastry cream 
(which often has a starchy component to stabilize 
it) packed into small, cookie-sized molds, and 
baked in a moderately hot oven until the outer 
surface is crunchy, like a cookie, and the inside 
still moist and custardy.

As with many regional foods, they tend not to be 
well-known outside their region, but I suspect 
these might be a descendant more of baked pots de 
creme than of anything resembling a biscuit or 
cookie. In other words, these seem more like a 
custard with a crust, rather than a cookie with a 
moist custard filling.

I'll keep looking through a couple of books I 
have semi-buried, but so far I can't find 
anything more than a recipe or two, which are 
probably nearly identical to what you've already 
got.

Adamantius