What to do with pink pralines?

When you've never tasted it, pink praline can be intriguing! From the first bite, we succumb to its crunchy pink-colored cooked sugar, and its almond or hazelnut heart. A famous confectionery in Lyon and its surroundings, which it would be a great mistake to ignore. Addictive in the famous praline tart, for which it melts deliciously with cream, before covering a shortcrust or shortcrust pastry, it also garnishes the legendary Saint-Genix cake, a soft brioche garnished with pink fragments, but also the version soft by François Pralus, the praluline, born in 1955 in Roanne.

Pink praline, jewel of the Lyon region

Famous sweets that make the region famous, which can be easily adapted at home, as long as you can find pink pralines, of course! What you need to remember with pink praline is that you can cook it in three different ways: raw, in pieces, which you place here and there on a cream, a floating island, or a tart, to add texture; melted in a liquid – cream or milk, to flavor and color, before transforming the whole thing into flan, custard, or pie filling; or slipped directly into a cake, muffin or brioche batter, to add crunch to the taste but also sweet notes. Indeed, as they are made up of a large part of sugar, the latter melts when cooked into a dough, which is why when cutting, we discover pretty parts of colored and fragrant dough.

How to desweeten pink praline?

The pitfall of pink praline is simple and at the same time linked to its composition: it is sweet. Even too sweet for some! To remedy this – if you don't like to eat too much sweetness – you must above all balance your entire dessert, and reduce the sugar in the other elements of the recipe. But also play on other flavors like raspberry, lemon, or even passion fruit, which, thanks to their acidity, will restore the balance.

In the case of a pink praline tart, you will also avoid sweetening the dough, knowing that the filling is already a candy in itself. For the brioche, the same, the best is the enemy of the good. Even if generosity is a quality that is more than appreciated in cooking, adding too many pink pralines to your dough can make the whole thing sickening. You always have to think about balance, especially in baking!

The possible errors having been mentioned, all that remains is for us to reveal our best recipes for cooking pink pralines like a chef!