Our French gite guests came bearing gifts. 
They brought a box of beautifully presented tiny canelés. OH is adamant that they need warming up. Is he right?
We’ve always been served them warm. However, I think that’s because they are generally cooking while we start working our way through the meal…
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I’ve wondered this myself. I found this…
Préchauffer votre four à 220°C (Th 7-8). Réchauffer le produit entre 5 et 10 minutes pour que les Canelés retrouvent leur croustillance. Laisser refroidir et déguster.
Bon appetit !
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I always eat them cold.
My son and dil get tasty ones in Bordeaux but they now make their own. I’ve never heard of them eaten warm.
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Let’s put it this way… I’m not saying hot… but they are certainly not chilled… the syrup/rum is still slightly liquid and they are scrumptious…
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Thank you all - I can understand warming up full-sized ones, but there is so little to these tiny ones. The outside is pretty much rock hard and inside is just a bit chewy. And does one really give these as a gift on the understanding they have to be heated up? Chocolates would be easier.
As I say… my pals make them and serve them up the same day… each seems to have a slightly different “special recipe” but I prefer Marie-Claire’s…
“put a little extra rum into the moulds before adding the mixture”… wow they are amazing !! hic
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“let them cool… and gobble them up” … I don’t think they keep well…
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I don’t even know what they are…
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Pick the canelé up, warm or cold who cares, try both and see which you prefer
Put it in your mouth/bite a bit off (depends on size)
Chew
Swallow
Repeat until there are none left
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Tiède works for me…
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Thanks Véro, practical advice, as ever.
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I really like the look of those…
In that case, I’m guessing you’ve never been through Bordeaux airport!
Local “delicacy” somewhat overrated IMO. Partly I suspect because I’ve never had a just-made one. Any that have been sitting on a confectionary counter ready to be boxed up are well past their best. Hence, I suspect OH’s view that they are better warmed-up.
This is how wiki describes them:
A canelé is a small French pastry flavored with rum and vanilla with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. It takes the shape of a small, striated cylinder up to five centimeters in height with a depression at the top
To talk about the centre being soft and tender custard. Mmmm not so sure. More like tough, chewy rum baba.
I’m with you @SuePJ not keen! The lady ho bought our last house from us arrived with a box of bubbly (too sweet) and these to eat with the bubbles - double yuck!!! I managed to get the bubbles down!
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You certainly can’t waste bubbles - even if they are too sweet 
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I suspect that, like so many things, cannelés will vary depending on the particular cook.
We enjoy them so much I bought a pan… but that is as far as I’ve got. No incentive, when so many friends love baking…
and I’ve been offered all sorts of macarons by folk over the years…
some I’ve liked and some… not so much.
Again, it’s probably the fine-tuning by the cook which can make all the difference.
Sweetness has to be just right for me…
and some flavours are an experience, but not necessarily my choice.
Le pudding is another delight, which gets handed over the wall for us to enjoy…
and always with the whispered " avec du rhum" as if there can be any doubt… it smells delicious… and tastes just as good warm or cold.
I totally agree, although now that I am so careful to only drink dry wines (for blood sugar reasons) I find even slightly sweet, like some roses, just too much for my palette! e even have a few bottles of qutie expensive Chateau sweet white in the barn and they’ve been there for years! Anything else doesn’t last the week 
What exactly is Le Pudding?