Les Cannelés de Bordeaux

Cannelés, a curious chewy cake whose flutes are drenched in caramelized sugar, eluded me for years. Two or three pâtisseries in Bordeaux claim the secret, and I bought purpose-designed fluted copper molds and followed the instructions, all to no avail. Every attempt flopped, scorched, or was disagreeably tough. Finally the answer came from my old friend Chef Chambrette, now in his eighties. “Simple,” he says, “cook the egg-and-milk mixture until it curdles like overcooked crème anglaise.” C