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…