Welcome to the Dark Side: Why a Perfect Canelé Should Be (Almost) Black

When most people think of French pastries, they imagine flaky golden croissants or glossy fruit tarts. But canelés? They play by a different set of rules and those rules are dark, caramelised and unapologetically bold.

You might look at a canelé and think, “Wait… is it burnt?” But that deep, nearly black exterior isn’t a mistake. It’s the hallmark of a perfectly baked canelé. In fact, French pastry legend Pierre Hermé once said:

“A perfect canelé needs to be uniformly dark, almost but not quite burnt. When it’s black, it’s cooked. I sometimes see bakers cook them only to golden, and that’s no good. A canelé has to be black.”

(Source: Iron Whisk)