I'm preparing some special hazelnut sablé biscuits for my son's daycare snacks. Those French biscuits needs some flavoursome praliné paste, which probably can't be bought from NZ supermarkets or groceries. The good news is that it is super easy to make your own praline and once you have tasted this delicious topping or paste, I bet you'll become addict straight away!
The recipe I'm sharing today comes from a world-renowned French pastry chef: Philippe Conticini, so it is a high standard recipe, but you'll be stroke how easy it is. You just need a good food processor and a little bit of patience.
But what's praline or praliné? It's a combination of hazelnuts and/or almonds, but could also contain pistachio or cashew. The nuts are roasted, then cooked in a slightly dark toffee and pulverised finely. After few seconds in the mill or blender, you'll obtain a powder - the praline -, if you keep grounding, then you'll obtain a paste - the praliné -.
The praline is a gourmet topping for ice-cream or custard, crumble and apple pies, and I bet it would be lovely on the top of a pavlova... I'm just saying...
The praliné paste is delicious spread on toasts, combined in crème chantilly for choux filling, or combined in cake, brioches, cookies and biscuits.
Ingredients (~ 250 g jar)
- 300 g whole hazelnuts (or half hazelnuts, half almonds)*
- 200 g caster sugar
- 60 ml water
Instructions
1. Roast the nuts through, oven grill at 150C, for 20 mins. Let cool down and peel them, roughly.
2. In a heavy-bottom pot, heat the sugar and the water until it reach 116C - If you have no candy thermometer, wait until the syrup boils up - and add the nuts.
3. The syrup will crystallise and form a whitish coating over the nuts (see pic no.1 on the right). Keep cooking on low-medium heat, it's all good! Continuously stir for about 15 mins, until the sugar melt and caramelise (pics no. 2 & 3). Be patient!
4. When the sugar has dissolved into a slightly dark caramel, spread this preparation on baking tray (use baking paper) and let cool down (pic no. 4, below).
5. When absolutely cold, pulverise the toffee in a mill or blender. Within few seconds, you'll obtain a fine powder - the praline-, which will become a praliné paste if you keep blending (thanks to the oil naturally contained in the nuts).
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Help yourself with a spoon! The praline or praliné can be stored in the fridge for few days.
Good to know...
* The pictures shows the process and result for a mix of hazelnuts and almonds.
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