3 Canele Variations (cherry, chocolate and absinthe)
Here the latest batch of canele this time not the full on traditional Bordeaux style. Knowing full well that this is slightly blasphemous I had been thinking of some fun offshoots of the classic recipe now that I finally have some decent molds - from left to right with a bit of commentary
1. Chocolate. Substituted creme de cacao (dark) instead of rum and dropped a few pieces of semi sweet bakers chocolate.
2. Cherry grand Marnier. This uses 1/2 the normal dark rum and cherry grand Marnier for the other half.
3. Absinthe. Substitute all the rum for absinthe. Initially I was planning a pastis but realized I had already consumed the last of my ricard bottle and so was able to find a mini absinthe nearby.
These were a lot of fun. Of the three flavors, the cherry is probably my favorite mostly because its so close to the original which often time uses regular grand Marnier and rum combined so the slight difference with the cherry made for a very pleasant little pastry. Next the absinthe and that was a very close second - for anyone who enjoys anise or licorice this is a great variation. Finally the creme de cacao, this was a bit underwhelming and I think this since chocolate is best (at least in my opinion) when its full on. Adding a touch of chocolate liqueur and a few chunks of chocolate just takes away from the original flavors and doesn't really bring anything special to the overall results and it seems a better plan would be to go for a chocolate batter in conjunction with the liqueur etc.
So just on case any canele fans out there I thought this might be if interest ... And now to eat the rest !