Pastry Stall · Caramelized Custard Cake
Cannelé de Bordeaux
Photo: Nicolo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
One popular legend traces it to Bordeaux convent nuns, who supposedly got free egg yolks as a byproduct of the city's wine-clarifying process — a guild of cake-makers was already regulating the trade by the 1660s.
A cannelé is a small cake baked in a fluted copper mold until the outside turns dark, almost burnt-caramel crisp, while the inside stays soft and custardy with vanilla and rum. Bakery and market stalls across Bordeaux sell them warm by the bag.
Why it's made this way: Winemakers used egg whites to clarify wine and had yolks to spare, and local bakers built a whole pastry tradition around using them up.
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