Nov 30, 20212 min read

The quintessence of greed : a praliné

Updated: Dec 2, 2021

If you are a French pastry lover, you may have heard about praliné more than once during the last 5 years.

A lot of pastry chefs use it in their creations to give a more sexy and yummy look. Its semi liquid and flowing texture is probably the best way to catch people on Instagram.

But what is exactly a praliné ?

A praliné is a semi-liquid paste, obtained by mixing nuts and caramel. The specific aspect of a praliné is its texture but also the flavour of sugary and roasted nuts in a dessert.

In fact, using a praliné is also a good way to keep your dessert ‘structured’, let me explain you why. As I said previously, the praliné is the result of mixing nuts with sugar. But how can we obtain something semi-liquid without adding water ? In fact, oleaginous fruits contain oil. Mixing nuts for 5 to 10 minutes brings out the oil contained in it. That’s why the praliné has a flowing texture. And this oil is a good way to keep the different mixtures and elements separated. For example : a tart can easily be soaked if the filling cream is liquid. Adding a thin layer of praliné between the cream and the dough allows the tart to be ‘structured’ and clean.

You can make praliné with all oleaginous fruits (nuts, hazelnuts, pistachio …), use your imagination and choose the one that you like.

This recipe is for 150g praliné

Time required : 40 min

Baking time : 10 min

INGREDIENTS

160 g hazelnuts

80 g sugar

10 g water

DIRECTIONS

Roast your nuts for 10 min at 150°C/300°F in the oven
In a frying pan, pour the sugar and water to make a syrup and bring to a boil up to 114°C/237°F. Once the temperature is reached, you can add the nuts and coat it with the flowing syrup while continuing to stir.
A whitish layer will form around the nuts and on the walls of the pan. The melted sugar is crystallizing, hence this white and granular film. Let the nuts caramelize at low to medium heat .
Melting the sugar takes 5 to 10 minutes depending on the amount of nuts used. Never stop stirring the mixture or the nuts will not be evenly coloured. Some parts will be burnt, and others barely caramelized.
Once the nuts are well coated with caramel, remove them directly from the heat. Let them cool on a parchment paper or on a cold surface.
When the nuts are still a bit hot but not scorching, blend them to make nuts powder. And keep mixing for 5 to 10 minutes until the powder becomes a paste. Your mixer should be powerful enough, otherwise you will be stuck at the powder stage.
Do not hesitate to remove the powder from the sides when the blender is no longer effective.

Now that you know how to make praliné, please tag me on Instagram to show me your creation (@theparisbest_baking). I would be so glad to give you my feedback and share it !