November 28, 2014
Rob
9

Recipe: Praline paste

This one of those recipes for which I keep on telling myself “How did I survive without it?“!

I discovered the praline paste, also known as “praliné” here in France only a few years ago: here it is widely used as key ingredient or just to add crunchiness, sweetness and more flavour to desserts.

Recipe-Praline-paste-06

So what is praliné?

Praliné is a thick paste made with caramelized nuts. The most common recipe involves almonds and hazelnuts in a 50/50 ratio, but you can make praline paste with any ratio of nuts (i.e. 30% hazelnuts, 40% pecan nuts, 40% Brazilian nuts, why not) .

Recipe-Praline-paste-Step03

Once the nuts are evenly caramelized and cooled down at room temperature (not in the fridge, since caramel “disappears” in presence of humidity), they are mixed in a food processor for several minutes. The blades turning at high speed will heat the nuts which will start releasing the oil of which they are rich.

This oil will mix with the caramel and the nuts to form a delicious paste.

How to use praliné?

Praline paste can be used as is (for example, as a layer in a cake) or to flavour creams (for example the mousseline for a Paris-Brest).

It can be stored at room temperature in air-tight containers for several months.

Oh, and in case you were wondering: no, there’s is absolutely no comparison with the ready-made praline paste you can buy in shops! 😀 This is absolutely great!!!

 

Praline paste

Print recipe

Ingredients

300gHazelnuts
300gAlmonds
400gSugar
130gWater

Directions

1
Place the nuts on an oven pan in a single layer and toast them for 15 minutes at 150°C.
2
When you remove the from the oven, rub the hazelnuts and almonds with a clean cloth to remove their skin as much as possible, if present. Let everything cool down at room temperature.
3
Heat the sugar and the water in a saucepan on medium heat until it reaches 116°C.
4
When the sugar syrup is at 116°C, stir in the almonds and hazelnuts with the help of a wooden spatula
5
Make sure to coat all the almonds and hazelnuts in the syrup, which will eventually crystallize: it is normal and it is due to the thermal shock, but keep on stirring constantly on medium-low heat
6
The sugar will eventually melt again and become caramel; in these stage never stop stirring to prevent the caramel, almonds and hazelnuts from burning and sticking to the pan.
Arrange the caramel-coated dry fruits on a silicon mat (or parchment paper) spread out as much as possible in a single layer. Let cool down at room temperature
7
Break the caramel-coated fruits in small pieces with your hands or with a knife (be careful, broken caramel can be sharp!) and place them in a food processor
8
Process a few seconds to obtain coarsely-chopped caramelized dry fruits, also known as "pralines"
9
Keep on processing for several minutes to obtain a thick but spreadable praline paste. Add a dash of vegetable oil (e.g. hazelnut, peanut...) if the paste is too dense.

Note

The praline paste can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container (I use glass pots) and can hold for several months.

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