Have you ever made pralines? I was inspired to make them by the recent celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I had an Instagram collaboration on the topic of sugar & nuts coming up, and upon seeing the Mardi Gras parade my mind went to my trip to New Orleans 2 years ago, then to the pralines I had on that occasion – and voila! I realized that I knew what to make with sugar and nuts for my Instagram collab 🙂
There are many versions of the history of pralines in the United States. According to New Orleans School of Cooking, pralines “derive their name from the famous French field marshal Comte du Plessis Praslin (1598-1675), and their generic beginning from his butler’s recipe for almonds coated and dipped in sugar, used as a digestive aid. When Louisiana was settled by French colonists, native pecans were substituted for almonds of the mother country and the sugar cane.
No lengths were spared by the Creoles to achieve perfection in candy making. Along with their vast collection of Creole recipes, each cook had their own secret method for making the best pralines, which they guarded carefully and handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.”
Pralines are so popular across the United States that we even have a special day to celebrate them – National Praline Day on June 24th 🙂
Most praline recipes include a few traditional base ingredients: sugar, milk, butter and pecans. I followed New Orleans School of Cooking’s recipe. At the bottom of the page, they also mention chocolate-covered pralines, so I made these too, coating the original pralines with a thick layer of melted Ghirardelli’s 60% dark chocolate.
Just for fun, I sprinkled a few pralines with powdered freeze-dried strawberries – and I didn’t stop there! I was so in love with the delicious nutty sweetness of the pralines that I also decided to make a praline French toast casserole (recipe inspiration: Southern Living Magazine) using a few slices of my homemade sourdough bread.
Serving the French toast casserole with fresh blackberries and sour cherry sauce was a good move, imo. As the caramelized, buttery pecans at the bottom of the pan took over my taste buds, the sharpness of the sour cherry topping offered relief, and created a beautiful, luscious balance on the palate. Throw the fresh berries – and maybe a cup of dark unsweetened coffee 🙂 – into the mix, and you’ve got yourself the perfect dessert to comfort your heart while (im)patiently waiting for spring 🙂
A fabulous dessert, an absolute must-try:
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