People tasting praline paste for the first time tend to fall to their knees and weep for all the wasted years. For while it is an ingredient, it’s also a spread in its own right, a sweet nut butter with strong caramel overtones. You’ll need to resist the urge to keep spooning it into your mouth until it’s gone. The formula is elementary: 1-1 sugar to nuts by weight, but most people like to divide the proportion of nuts between blanched almonds and hazelnuts. So let’s say, for purposes of argument, you wanted to make a pound of praline paste for a mid-day snack. You’d use:
8 ounces (225 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup water (6 centiliters)
4 ounces (113 grams) blanched almonds (113 grams)
4 ounces (113 grams) hazelnuts (peeled makes the best presentation)
Place the nuts on a sheet of lightly greased parchment paper or a silpat. Then simply add the water to the sugar in a small saucepan and heat it over high heat, swirling until the mixture turns to caramel. Dark amber is usually the degree most pastry makers cook to, though you can go darker for a stronger flavor. Pour the caramel over the nuts and allow the mixture to cool completely. Then break the praline into pieces and grind them as finely as you can in a food processor until a paste forms. It won’t be as smooth as commercially-made praline paste, but the flavor will be, well…you’ve got to try this stuff to believe it. If you want to absolutely go nuts, add in:
2 ounces melted dark chocolate
…during the final blending step.
sounds awesome. it’s on the “do list”!
btw: how hard is this on the blades of my food processor? I’ve heard that grinding sugar is pretty tough on blades — do you find you need to buy new blades with frequency? (can they be sharpened?)
You know I’ve never really thought about that. I don’t do this terribly often, but it stands to reason that at some point food processor blades would need to be sharpened and/or replaced. Hmm….
I have found this to be pretty rough on the old food processor. I crush the chunks of nuts and caramel ijn a heavy ziplock freezer bag with a meat tenderizer until the pieces are pretty small. I put the all ready crushed praline in the food processor and go from there. It SEEMS to eliminate much of the wear and tear on the blade
Great idea, Ed!
for those who couldn’t find peeled hazelnuts at the store: http://www.joepastry.com/2007/peeling_hazelnuts/
I love your website!! But I have a question because I tried to make praline paste tonight and botched it and my food processor exploded. I got a stronger food processor tonight, threw in the broken pieces of the cooled caramel and almonds (I couldn’t find hazelnuts) and it would never turn into a smooth paste. I added a tablespoon of peanut oil and it looked like it was starting to get more smooth but not creamy. I turned my back for a minute and returned to find a rather milky liquid settling on the top and the praline was really gummy, almost like a gritty, hard taffy. What did I do wrong?
You have over processed your hazelnuts…
I’ll go easier next time, Anisa!
- Joe
I had never been in a internet´s place like yours: From the begining you related the taste of this awesome recipe, in a way anyone can resist; and the comments tought me many things I should be aware of. For all this, THANK YOU, I LOVE YOUR BLOG!
Thank you, Marina! I love to do this, especially when someone sends me such wonderful comments!
Cheers,
- Je
I was looking for a praline paste recipe to use between macaroons, when I found yours.
BUT (and it is a big but) I’m from Denmark and we don’t know ounces from bounces, so how much in grams? And how much water in centilitres? Please, please, please
Eva
Your wish is my command, Eva!
- Joe
Hi Joe, your whole blog is awesome. Thanks for your praline recipe. We made it tonight and it is delicious. We have just managed to squirrel some away for later, having taken to the larger amount with spoons…
There was no need to melt the chocolate for the last addition, as the paste was still very warm in the food processor and melted the chunks within a couple of turns of the blade. I would like confirm that blanching the hazelnuts and almonds in boiling water with some bicarb soda was very effective for removing the skins, and much tidier than roasting and rubbing – primarily because you can do it all in the sink!
Cheers,
Kathy
I’ll remember that, Kathy!
Thanks and yeah, you’ve got to watch yourself around this stuff. It disappears fast!
- Joe