JUNE 24, 2014 – NATIONAL PRALINES DAY

              NATIONAL PRALINES DAY

June 24 annually celebrates National Pralines Day.  This day honors the praline; a confection made from nuts (whether in whole pieces or ground) and sugar syrup. Pralines may also refer to any chocolate cookie containing the ground powder or nuts.
There are a variety of pralines to be enjoyed:

• Belgian Pralines – contain a hard chocolate shell with a softer, sometimes liquid, filling.
• French Pralines – a combination of almonds and caramelized sugar.
• American Pralines – contain milk or cream and are softer and creamier, resembling fudge.

At the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte during the 17th century, French sugar industrialist, Marshal du Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), originally inspired the early pralines.   These first pralines were whole almonds, individually coated in caramelized sugar.
“The powder made by grinding up sugar-coated nuts is called pralin, and is an ingredient in many types of cake, pastries and ice creams.  When this powder is mixed with chocolate, it becomes praliné in French, which gave birth to what is known in French as chocolat praliné.”
It was the French settlers that brought their recipe into Louisiana.  In this area of the United States, both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful.  It was then, during the 19th century, that the New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection and thus created, what is known throughout the Southern United States as the praline.
Enjoy the following “tried and true” pralines recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pralines/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pralines-recipe2.html

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