Chocolate praline

Praline
Artisan pralines
TypeConfectionery
Place of originBelgium
Main ingredientsChocolate
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Praline
Praline shop in Brussels. Such luxury shops typically also sell chocolate truffles.

A praline (/ˈprɑːliːn/ PRAH-leen), also known as Belgian chocolate, Belgian chocolate fondant or chocolate bonbon, is a hollow casing of chocolate with a soft filling, often consisting of hazelnuts or almonds.

Historically, chocolats pralinés or pralines de chocolat referred to simple confections coated in chocolate. As chocolate consumption increased, these became popular by the mid-19th century. The term derives from praline, originally a type of candied almonds, whole or crushed. In addition to the traditional almond praline, crushed and coated in chocolate, another popular variety was the chocolate-coated fondant cream. Jean Neuhaus II, a Belgian chocolatier, is generally credited with introducing the modern praline in 1912 — that is, a moulded chocolate with a filled centre.

There have always been many types and shapes, nearly always containing a chocolate shell, usually couverture chocolate, with a softer filling.

Belgian chocolates (pralines) have a great variety of fillings: praline or praliné (similar to the original nut confection, often finely ground), whole nuts, marzipan, salted caramel, coffee, a spirit, cream liqueur, cherry or a chocolate blend that contrasts with the outer shell. They are often sold in stylised boxes in the form of a gift box. The largest manufacturers are Neuhaus, Godiva, Leonidas, and Guylian.[citation needed]

Contrary to truffles, pralines are often decorated.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ These were, for instance, mentioned in Balzac's Cousin Bette (1846): Il m’apporte des bonbons, des pralines ! Oh ! que c’est bon, le chocolat praliné !.. Je fais tout ce qu'il veut pour un sac de ce chocolat !

References

  1. ↑ de Balzac, Honoré (1846). La cousine Bette. p. 148.
  2. ↑ Zipperer, Paul (1915). The Manufacture of Chocolate and other Cacao Preparations. London: E & F N Spon. p. 182. The designation praline (properly pronounced prahlin) has been applied to sugar-coated almonds and is derived from the name of a cook in the employ of Marshal du Plessis, which was Pralins. This "chef" belonged to the age of Louis XIV. and was the first to make these sweetmeats. But now the term is applied to sweetmeats of various forms, soft fruit-sugar, marmelade, cream, nut-paste etc. respectively enveloped in chocolate.
  3. ↑ Debay, Auguste (1864). "Pralines de chocolat". Les influences du chocolat, du thé et du café sur l'économie humaine. Édouard Dentu. p. 78. On en distingue de deux sortes: les pralines ordinaires et les pralines à la crème. Les premières contiennent des amandes torréfiées et pilées; les secondes sont composées d'une enveloppe de chocolat et d'un noyau de sucre mou imitant la crème. [There are two types: ordinary pralines and cream pralines. The former contain roasted and crushed almonds; the latter are composed of a chocolate coating and a soft sugar core imitating cream.]
  4. ↑ Amy M. Thomas (December 22, 2011). "Brussels: The Chocolate Trail". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-12-25. Ever since the Brussels chocolatier Jean Neuhaus invented the praline 100 years ago, the city has been at the forefront of the chocolate business. ... They are breaking away from traditional pralines—which Belgians classify as any chocolate shell filled with a soft fondant center...