This famous pink praline brioche (Praluline) comes from Auguste Pralus of France. It’s a soft and buttery brioche filled with pink sugar pralines. You’re going to love this bread!
For those who know me in real life, you’ll know that I am your typical Type-A personality. I stay organized, make lists and am very structured. This is true when I travel as well. Typically, my husband and I have an itinerary with the day’s activities and the restaurants where we’ll eat.
Recently though, we’ve been making our itineraries a bit looser. We’ll generally know where we’re going and have a few scheduled activities. Then we’ll leave time open to explore and enjoy.
When we visited Paris over spring break, we had blocks of time open to walk around the city. Since I host an annual chocolate tasting party, I was on the hunt for some Parisian chocolate. I recalled walking by a chocolate store near our AirBNB so we walked towards it one morning. On the way there, we saw a sign for a different chocolate store so we followed the signs and walked into the store.
The store manager spent some time talking about their various chocolates with us. She gave Addie two free macarons of her choice. She also gave us a sample of their pink praline brioche, which she called a Praluline. I loved seeing the bright pink bread because it made me happy. We each tried a bite and were blown away.
After we returned from the trip, we learned that the Praluline is a famous bread that’s only made in Paris. The pink pralines originate from the Lyon area of France and are only sold in France. I found some imitation pink pralines on Amazon. After searching high and low, I was also able to find a copycat recipe of the Praluline (the actual recipe remains a secret).
I completely failed at my first attempt at recreating this bread. I tried a different recipe and my dough did not rise. As a result, my brioche looked like a frisbee and ended up in the trash. I finally succeeded on my second attempt with this recipe.
Although my Praluline did not puff up as much as the one in Paris, it still tasted really amazing. The exterior is supposed to be nice and crunchy, and the inside is supposed to be chewy and buttery. My textures were on par, but the Praluline was still too flat for my liking. I may experiment some more with this recipe in the coming weeks to see if I can get it any closer to the original.
(And now you know what I made with those pink pralines from earlier this week!)
Pink praline brioche (Praluline)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups pastry flour If needed, you can substitute with equal parts cake and all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 1 and 1/8 cup pink pralines
- 1/4 cup milk warmed to about 110 degrees F
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix together the salt, eggs, flour and sugar. Add the yeast mixture and mix for about 10 minutes.
- Add the butter and mix well until you achieve a smooth, pliable dough (about 10-15 minutes). It should be elastic and not stick to your hands.
- Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl and cover. Place in the refrigerator overnight to cool.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut in half (put the other half in the refrigerator while you're working with the first half of the dough).
- Roll into an 8"x8" square. Add half of the pralines in the middle and bring two of the corners of the dough towards the center. Repeat with the other corners (it should resemble an envelope).
- Flip the dough over and roll it into a rectangle. Then fold the dough into thirds. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it into a rectangle. Fold it into thirds.
- Flip the dough over and roll into an 8"x8" square.
- Bring two opposite corners of the dough towards the center. Repeat with the other corners. Then do it again - pull the corners into the center. Flip the dough over and shape it into a ball. Repeat with the other ball of dough.
- Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl and allow it to rise for about 2 hours or until doubled.
- Preheat your oven to 340 degrees F. Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake in your preheated oven for 25 minutes. Without opening the door, lower the oven temperature to 140 degrees F and bake another 20-25 minutes. The brioche should be golden and crispy.
Both the Praluline and the pink praline are typical from Lyon (Roanne, to be exact) Most people not from these cities have never even heard the word Praluline. Actually, the name Praluline itself is copyrighted and if you were not in an official Pralus bakery then this lady can be in trouble (but they also have a store in Paris so I guess it was it) You should try starting from a brioche recipe and it will look and taste more like what you remember and less like a cookie.
Author
Thank you for the history lesson! We were in the official Pralus bakery on Paris and also bought a lot of chocolate from them! I will have to try your suggestion and start from a brioche recipe. Thank you!
La brioche aux pralines is a speciality from the Lyon region. Definitely not Paris.
Author
Thank you for correcting me, Francoise! I happened to come across them while in Paris. I hope to visit the Lyon region someday!