Guest guest Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hazelnut Praline Paste 1 1/4 cups hazelnuts or almonds 1 cup sugar vegetable oil for greasing pan and rolling pin To remove the dark, papery skin from the hazelnuts, preheat the oven to 300 degrees and bake them on a baking sheet for 10 minutes to 15 minutes (they'll start to smell good), then rub them in a dry towel. Inevitably, a few are stubborn and impossible to peel completely; a few specks of peel are fine. Chop the nuts in a food processor using the pulse mechanism, until they're about the size of baby peas. Make a caramel by melting the sugar in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. When the caramel has turned a deep reddish-brown, add the coarsely chopped hazelnuts and stir for about 2 minutes off the heat. Lightly coat a rolling pin and a sheet pan with vegetable oil. Turn the gluey hazelnut/caramel mixture out onto the sheet pan, let it cool for about 2 minutes, and hammer the mixture with the rolling pin to flatten it into a rough sheet about 1/4 inch think. (Pastry chefs call these sheets nougatine.) If the mixture keeps sticking to the rolling pin, let it cool a minute or two more. When the mixture has cooled, cut it up into coarse chunks with a chef's knife. Grind the chunks in the food processor for about 5 minutes, stopping every minute or so to scrape the inside of the processor bowl with a rubber spatula. (Although this sounds like a long time, don't be tempted to stop sooner. It really does take 5 minutes to get their right consistency.) Store the praline paste in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Makes 36 servings Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Mail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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