How to prepare homemade praline?
The right ingredients to make praline
To prepare your praline, all you need is oilseeds – almonds and/or hazelnuts are the most common – and white sugar. Even if other sugars are suitable for making caramel, it is easier and less expensive to opt for classic caster sugar to be able to manage the cooking of your caramel!
If almonds and hazelnuts can be used individually or in a mixture, you can also prepare praline with any oilseed: pistachios, pecans, sesame seeds, etc. We keep in mind that these products have a certain cost which quickly increases the bill. But knowing that they are the main component of homemade praline, the game is well worth the effort.
In addition to the oilseeds and sugar necessary for its preparation, you can also add a touch of fleur de sel to your dough for a welcome salty touch when tasting, or vanilla seeds. Any other added ingredient – like chocolate for example – will move the praline into another category, that of spreads for example.
The steps to master to make your praline
In a quick version, praline is simply caramelized and hardened oilseeds, mixed for a long time until the oil they contain comes out, and obtains a semi-liquid paste with an intoxicating flavor.
In the long version, it is necessary to detail the process in more detail.
For an intense praline, it is advisable to roast your oilseeds, unpeeled is better. This operation can be carried out briefly dry in a frying pan over the heat, or in the oven for a few minutes. Be careful, there is only a small step between roasting and burning, so we roast gradually to avoid the point of no return. In the case of hazelnuts, once roasted, we rub them in a clean cloth to remove their skins.
Then, heat sugar with a little water in a saucepan until bubbles appear on the surface. At this time, you must immediately add the oilseeds, and coat them with sugar until they “sand”, this means that the sugar has the appearance of sand. Don’t worry, this state is normal and desired, the praline is not at all a failure at this stage! You must continue cooking until the sugar melts again and turns into caramel. When all the dried fruits are coated with caramel, place them on a sheet of parchment paper and leave to cool completely.
Once the material has hardened, we break it into pieces and mix it in a powerful blender until you obtain a praline.
To go faster, you can also prepare a dry caramel, add the roasted oilseeds, coat them, and remove.
Praline and praline, are they the same thing?
In stores, you can find “praline” on sale, which is actually step 1 of mixing the praline. Clearly, if you briefly mix your hardened preparation, you get praline – caramelized oilseeds chopped into small pieces -, and if you continue mixing, you get praline. Is it possible to make praline with praline powder? In theory, the answer is yes, since it is thanks to the oil contained in the oilseeds that the praline is formed. However, we advise you to prepare your praline yourself from A to Z to choose the oilseeds you like, roast them, add vanilla or not, increase the caramelization according to your taste, and finally mix. By mixing already made praline, you will – in theory – obtain praline, but you will not be able to influence its taste, which is a bit of a shame…
Can you make praline without a mixer?
Ah, the absence of a mixer… We know that. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make praline without a mixer. A powerful blender, what’s more! For what ? Because this paste is mixed quite simply, but also because it must be mixed for a long time and powerfully so that the oil “comes out” of the oilseeds. Some small mixers with several blades are perfect for preparing a praline, or even a pesto. With ultra-powerful Thermomix robots, making praline is child’s play as mixing is so quick. But with other robots, the task can be much longer and more difficult…
How to make crispy praline?
To add crunch to your praline, you can add crumbled lace crepes. You can also mix praline with melted milk chocolate and lace crepes to form a paste that can be spread on a biscuit when preparing a dessert for example.
Ultimately, homemade praline is good — so good — and not that complicated to prepare as long as you know how. And now you know!