Montreal’s best cannelés: All eyes on these French delicacies

Where can you find cannelés in Montreal? A small treat from Bordeaux with a soft center and a deliciously crispy caramelized exterior, the cannelé has been delighting the French for what seems like an eternity. However, as with tiramisu, cheese cake, and even iced coffee, the cannelé has its origins at the turn of modern history.

While the date of when the first cannelés were made is still contested, their origin story is quite different, and is still debated. In any case, the recipe is often attributed to the Annonciades nuns, who made them in a very different form than the modern cannelé. However, no baking mold has ever been found there. The nuns worked mainly with a small, chunky cake, wrapped around a stem. For this reason, many specialists question this version of the facts, while others see it as a simple evolution that was lost over time.

Once the advent of the cannelé has been noted, one can instead wonder what a cannelé really is. Originating from the Bordeaux region of France, it is a small cylindrical cake, whose tender and soft paste, enriched with rum and vanilla, brings joy to all gourmets. Traditionally, cannelés are baked in small copper molds, which are credited with the success of a good cannelé; contact with the metal creates a crisp, deliciously caramelized surface that pleasantly breaks when bitten into. More than one Montrealer who has visited Bordeaux has fond memories of this pastry. To rediscover the flavour of the cannelé, or simply to discover it, the establishments on this list offer their own version of the cannelés in Montreal.

Bon appétit and happy discovery!