 Pralin (crushedpraline) | |
| Type | Confectionery |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Belgium |
| Main ingredients | nuts,syrup |
| Variations | European, American |
Pralines (US:/ˈpreɪliːn/;New Orleans,Cajun, andUK:/ˈprɑːliːn/) areconfections containingnuts – usually almonds,pecans andhazelnuts – andsugar.Cream is a common third ingredient.
There are two main types:
Apraline cookie is a chocolate cookie containing ground nuts. Praline is usually used as a filling in chocolates or other sweets.
Praline may have originally been inspired in France by the cook ofMarshal du Plessis-Praslin (1602–1675), with the wordpraline deriving from the namePraslin.[1] Early pralines were whole almonds individually coated incaramelized sugar, as opposed to darknougat, where a sheet of caramelized sugar covers many nuts.[2] Though European colonization of the Western Hemisphere was already underway, chocolate-producing cocoa from there was originally not associated with the term. The European chefs used local nuts such as almonds and hazelnuts.[citation needed]
The powder made by grinding up such caramel-coated nuts is calledpralin, and is an ingredient in manycakes, pastries, and ice creams.[3] After this powder has been mixed with chocolate, it becomespraliné in French, which gave birth to what is known in French aschocolat praliné. The wordpraliné is used colloquially in France and Switzerland to refer to these various chocolate-coated mixes ("chocolates" in English).[4] In mainland Europe, the word praline is often used to mean either this nut powder or the chocolate paste made from it, which is widely used to fill chocolates, hence its use in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to refer to filledchocolates in general.[5] In the United Kingdom, the term can refer either to praline (the filling for chocolates) or, less commonly, to the original whole-nut pralines.[citation needed]
French settlers brought the recipe toLouisiana, where bothsugar cane andpecan trees were plentiful. In 19th centuryNew Orleans, people began substituting pecans foralmonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what became known throughout the American South as the praline.[citation needed]
Pralines have a creamy consistency, similar to fudge. They are usually made by combining sugar (often brown), butter, cream or buttermilk, and pecans in a pot over medium-high heat, and stirring constantly until most of the water has evaporated and it has reached a thick texture with a brown color. This is then usually dropped by spoonfuls ontowax paper or a sheet of aluminum foil greased with butter, and left to cool.[2][6][7]
"Pralines and Cream" is a commonice cream flavor in the United States and Canada. In New Orleans,Acadiana, andBaton Rouge, Louisiana, pralines are sometimes called "pecan candy".[citation needed]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)