Pralines are a confection of French origin made of nuts covered in caramel. Almonds and hazelnuts are most often used though in the American South pecans are preferred. Pralines are usually spread into a thin sheet on buttered or oiled marble and broken into pieces which can be used as a confection in its own right. This is particularly good when the pieces are dipped in tempered chocolate.
However Pralines are most often ground to a powder. The resulting Praline powder has many uses, as an ingredient in various sweet doughs and desserts, e.g. cheesecake, crème caramel and ice cream, as a flavouring for icings and creams, as a topping for baked apples or pears, ice cream and chocolate mousse or dusted on cakes. It's also used as a filling for chocolates which are known as praliné or praline Belge, i.e. Belgian chocolates.
Historic context
Pralines were named after the French Field Marshal César de Choiseul du Plessis-Praslin, Duke of Choiseul (1598-1675). He joined the army at the age of fourteen, was an ambassador in the service of King Louis XIII and, on behalf of King Louis XIV, negotiated the Treaty of Dover, an Anglo-French alliance with King Charles II of England. The pact provided Charles II with a French subsidy, freeing him from financial dependence on Parliament, in return for his support of French policy in Europe. Though it was his chef who is said to have thought of coating almonds in sugar, it was the Duke's idea to invent a confecton to distract the rebels of Bordelais. —olinsloan
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