Canneles and Raspberry Financiers… Little Camping Snacks

First of all, I have to thank all of you who left beautiful words in my blog. Very inspirational and they have not gone unnoticed….

We just returned from a camping trip. It was a hot, but perfect Mother’s Day camping trip. It is just a joy to see my little boy’s face every time we tell him we are going to the pool or just to watch him play in the dirt. I think life gave me a boy for a reason. I get to rediscover nature through his eyes and how anything and everything is a potential toy. Tree branches make great swords!

Our camping trips always seem to revolve around food. We plan our meals a week in advance, making grocery lists, taking special trips to Whole Foods. Snacks and sweet treats are very, very important, so in preparation for this trip, I made a batch of canneles and raspberry financiers. Small, one bite treats.

Canneles are the quintessential petits fours from Bordeaux. They are not a cookie and they are not cake. It’s almost like a crepe batter that is baked in tin molds to a dark crusty exterior and a soft, custard, chewy interior. They are flavored with vanilla and rum… very very fragrant. Traditionally, these canneles tin molds are coated with beeswax, but I used mini silicon molds. Their exterior is not as shiny when beeswax is not used but they are just as flavorful and the texture very similar.

The raspberry financiers are C’s favorite. In fact, he ate most of them before we even left for the trip. There’s something about brown butter, almonds and raspberries together… Most of the time, I bake a large base and I bake them as I need them. The batter will stay good in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days.

Canneles Bordelais

Makes 3 dozen mini canneles

225 grams milk
30 grams butter
75 grams milk
1 egg yolk
90 grams flour
24 grams rum
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
150 grams sugar

Boil the first two ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining of the ingredients together and slowly add the boiled milk and butter. Whisk until there are no lumps. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

Pour the batter into the canneles molds and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until dark brown exterior. While they are baking, the batter will puff up and it will seem like the canneles are going to fall out of the mold. Don’t worry, that’s normal and they will go back down.

Raspberry Financier

Makes 3 dozen mini finaciers

120 grams egg whites
125 grams sugar
55 grams flour
55 grams almond flour, toasted
150 grams brown butter
25 grams fresh or frozen raspberries (I used frozen ones this time)

In a saucepan, place the butter and heat it until the milk solids start to brown and it starts to smell nutty. Be careful not to burn it though. Remove the pan from heat and strain the butter. Let it cool.

In the meantime, toast the almond flour in a 325 degree oven until lightly brown. Let it cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, flour, almond flour, brown butter. Let this mixture rest in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, add the raspberries into the financier base and whisk a bit to break them up. Pipe the mixture in the financiers molds and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers and non-mothers who keep on making this a better world to live in!