Mediterranean savory Cannelés.

Last Saturday, my father came back from the shopping with a GREAT gift for the foodie I am : a silicone canneles pan. I must confess, though I live in France - and is a French pastry -, I've never tasted any cannelé ... There are always lots of cannelés in every (good) pastry shop window but I've always found them too caramelized - yes okay, another confession: I don't like caramel -. However, I've always loved the shape of this cake so why not find an alternative and making savory cannelés instead?
As Kama said previously, it's pretty gray outside these days -well, actually the kind of weather that engenders bad mood and makes you wanna stay underneath a warm and cozy blanket watching series all day long ... see?
So I've decided to fight against it and invented a Mediterranean recipe: dried black olives, dried tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese!

As I said beneath, it was the first time I've made canneles and I wasn't really sure about the recipe so after an hour of research, I found one that sounded not too complicated nor buttery.
But when I opened the fridge, I realized I didn't have any milk .... and canneles require half a liter of milk ... No problem, I took my parents' soy milk and it worked. I don't like to drink soy milk because of its taste but I often use it to cook or bake (pancakes for ex.) because it's doesn't have any taste when cooked and it's far less fat than cow milk ... Plus, it's healthy so why hesitate?
Anyway, canneles take 45min to be done. After 30min, I checked them and I was a bit afraid since they had overflowed from the pans but they shrinked when they cooled down. And they turned out to be pretty good, very cheesy and moist, perfect as appetizers or sides of a salad.
Next time, I'll try the original cannele recipe with Rum for sure!

Have one ...


Or several.

Ingredients:

for 8 regular cannelés

- 1/2 l soy milk

- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 100g all-purpose flour
- salt & pepper
- dried black olives
- dried tomatoes
- goat cheese (for these ingredients, I cannot really tell you the quantity needed; as I cheese lover, I put plenty of goat cheese in my canneles but do as you like; and you can also replace goat cheese by feta)
- 3 basil leaves

Directions:

Preheat the oven at 240°C/ 450-500°F (it mist be very hot otherwise the preparation will stick to the pans)
1) Put the milk and the butter in a saucepan and let them boil; don't forget to add the basil leaves so that they will brew in the milk; when it begins to boil, stir and remove from heat;
2) Meanwhile, whisk the egg and the yolk in a bowl and incorporate the flour;

3) Remove the basil leaves and pour the milk in the bowl little by little while continuing whisking;
4) Dice the olives, the tomatoes and the cheese and add them to the preparation;

5) Butter the pans and fill them to the brim;
6) Bake for 45min;
7) Let them cool down in their pans;
8) Serve warm or cold, with (or without) a salad.

By B.