Homemade Praline
Sarah Payne of Cocoaloco Chocolates just tweeted me asking for a good recipe for praline, that incredibly indulgent caramel-y mixture of nuts and sugar that gives such a luscious crunch to sweets and desserts. I have not yet made this myself, but here is the best recipe I found in a quick Google search. It is from the French Thermomix Recipe Community and I have translated it here. I’ll make it myself soon and blog it with photos.
Homemade Praline
This recipe is for a traditional nut-based praline confection. The original French version can be found here: http://www.espace-recettes.fr/recettes/praliné-ou-pralin-maison/29693
Ingredients
125 g almonds
125 g hazelnuts
300 g sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Method
- Roast almonds and hazelnuts in your Thermomix bowl on Varoma setting/20 minutes/Speed Spoon.
- During this time, make a brown caramel with the sugar and lemon juice: this takes about 20 minutes in a heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat.
- Spread roasted nuts on a baking sheet covered with baking paper or a silicone sheet. Pour the caramel over the nuts and make sure they’re all coated in caramel. Be careful, the caramel at this stage is still HOT! Cool 30 minutes to 1 hour or until the caramel has hardened.
- Break the caramel/nougat into several pieces and chop 10 seconds/Speed 8 to obtain a rough praline powder. Turbo pulse a few times if you want a finer powder.
Many thanks to Thermomix owner Montasclaire for this recipe.
Bon appétit !
I’d love to see your Aunt’s recipe for pralines, Mary Ellen! Feel free to send it to me when you find it
My relatives down on the Gulf made pralines, but that seems to be something entirely different. I loved them when I was a kid, but they’re so sugary one bite’ll give any adult an instant toothache and a headache–the dangerously elevated blood sugar. almost goes without saying.
They were big splots of caramel-y sugar, the size of a big cookie, dotted with toasted pecans. I probably have my aunt’s recipe around here somewhere…