Only very few home based chocolatiers own their own Melanger, and here is the good news for you:
- You don’t need a Melanger to make yummy praliné
- It’s not hard to make praliné
- However, it does require some patience
For small
batches of praliné, I don’t use my Melanger. Instead, I use a mini chopper by
Kitchen Aid or (for even smaller batches) the processor that comes with my
Bamix immersion blender.
1. Place 100 g
of hazelnuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake the nuts for 8-10
minutes at 180°C hot air, until the shells loosen and the nuts have taken on a
little colour. Then leave the nuts to cool on the baking paper.
2. Transfer the nuts to a clean kitchen towel, wrap the nuts in the kitchen
towel, and then rub the nuts through the kitchen towel so that the shells come
off. Set the shelled nuts aside.
3. In a small pan, melt 100 g of granulated sugar at slightly below
medium heat - without stirring it. When all the sugar has melted and the colour
has reached light amber, pour the caramel onto a piece of baking paper. Leave
the caramel to cool completely.
4. The next step is to make a the praliné of the hazelnuts and the
caramel. Break the cooled caramel into smaller pieces. In a powerful mini
chopper/mini blender, combine the caramel pieces and the hazelnuts. Then blend
the caramel and the hazelnuts. At regular intervals, you need to stop blending
to scrape the hazelnut/caramel mixture down the sides of the blender. The
process takes time and patience before - finally - the mixture turns into a
praliné. Check out the proces pics below.
This batch of praliné was used for making the yummiest Ferrero Rocher filling. The recipe for the Ferrero Rocher filling is included in my e-book ”MORE CHOCOLATEBARS – luxury versions”.
