These gorgeous candied French pink pralines are also called pralines roses. They are a specialty of the Lyon area of France. Stay tuned to see how I used them!
I know I sound like a broken record, but I was so in love with all the food in Paris and Barcelona. We were invited to sample of a Parisian pastry (that I will be sharing the recipe for soon), and it was all I’ve been thinking about. However, I ran into a few complications with that recipe. First, the recipe was written in French, so I had to translate it. Second, some of the recipe conversions didn’t work out. And third, a few of the ingredients were not found outside of France.
Like these French pink pralines.
I scoured high and low for them and learned that these pralines roses are not really sold outside of France. Luckily, I found an online retailer that sold a tiny little container of these. So, I bought one.
Unfortunately, I miserably failed at the first batch of the recipe I was making. I also ran out of pink pralines. Rather than buy another container, I decided to make my own. Thankfully, I found this recipe on Cooking with Bernard.
Sadly, I threw out my first batch of pink pralines. Why? Well, everything was going well until I put the pralines in the oven to bake. As I was washing the candy thermometer, I realized that the bulb broke. More than likely, the glass shattered into the sugar mixture, so I had to discard everything immediately. I was relieved when I saw that my thermometer did not contain mercury so we weren’t in danger of mercury poisoning.
Then I went and bought a new thermometer and more nuts and tried again. This time, I was successful. My pralines were sweet and crunchy, and my family loved munching on them as a snack. Stay tuned to see how I used these pralines in another French recipe!
French pink pralines (pralines roses)
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar divided into 3/4 cup increments
- 3/4 cup whole hazlenuts
- 3/4 cup whole almonds
- red food coloring
- water
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet (preferably a jelly-roll type of pan with sides) with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Set aside.
- Get two pans ready - a large frying pan and a small saucepan.
- In the large frying pan, whisk together 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar, just enough water to moisten it, and a few drops of red food coloring. Put it on a burner and turn it to medium. Continuously stir until large bubbles start to form. Then add in the hazelnuts and almonds and keep stirring.
- The sugar will coat the nuts and then appear like it's powdery. Keep stirring. Some of the sugar will start to melt again and re-coat the nuts. Once this happens, transfer the contents of your pan to your baking sheet. Separate the nuts with the chunks of sugar, placing the sugar in the saucepan.
- Now put the saucepan (with the extra chunks of sugar) on the stovetop. Add in 3/4 cups of granulated sugar, enough water to moisten, and a few drops of red food coloring. Keep heating and stirring until the sugar mixture reaches 255 degrees F.
- When the mixture approaches 255 degrees F, transfer the nuts back into the large frying pan. Then pour the hot sugar mixture on top and stir. Put the frying pan back on the stove and move the saucepan to the side. Keep stirring. Again, the sugar will stick to the nuts, and then it will appear gritty. Allow the sugar to melt again and re-coat the nuts.
- Once again, transfer the nuts to your baking sheet and repeat the process - separate the nuts and the sugar, and put the sugar in the saucepan and the nuts in the frying pan.
- Put the saucepan with the extra sugar on the burner and add the final 3/4 cup of sugar. Add enough water to moisten, and a few more drops of red food coloring. Heat to 255 degrees F.
- At this time, preheat your oven to 160 degrees F (my minimum oven temperature is 175 degrees F so I left it at that).
- Pour the hot sugar mixture into the large frying pan and stir. Allow the sugar to stick to the nuts, then get powdery/grainy, and allow the sugar to re-melt again. At this point, you will not have a lot of extra sugar left over. Transfer the nuts to your baking sheet once more.
- Spread the nuts out on your baking pan and bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes. Allow the nuts to cool before using.
Very easy to follow recipe, and it worked perfectly! I tried to buy the pink pralines on line, and a small 8oz package was $45! These are wonderful, easy, (Thanks to your instructions), and lovely. They made a perfect pink pralines pie.
Author
Oh, this makes me so happy! I’ve tried to look for these online as well and found the prices to be insanely high (and that’s without shipping!). So glad you were able to make these at home!