I wanted to try out a new type of tart dough this week, however the recipe called for some praline paste, which is not readily available in grocery stores. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a tiny can of it online, only to have to wait a week for it to be shipped and arrive, so I decided to look up how to make it. Surprisingly enough, it’s fairly easy to make! Water, sugar, hazelnuts, and oil are about all the ingredients you will need. You may want to add some salt to enhance the taste of the caramel, but that’s entirely up to you.
First off, you need to start out with some hazelnuts, also know as filberts. This is about 3/4 of a pound here:
I wasn’t very smart about this. I roasted the hazelnuts first, then attempted to remove the skins the “traditional way” which is rubbing the nuts (oooh, that sounds dirty) together in a clean kitchen towel. Let me set the record straight. The “traditional way” sucks. After searching on the wonderful invention that is Google, I discovered a much easier method which I will now relay to you. Before roasting the hazelnuts, boil them in water for about 3-4 minutes with about 3 tbsps of baking soda. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. The skins will come right off with a little help from you. THEN roast the nuts. This will make your life much easier.
Now that we have the skins off, roast the hazelnuts for about 10-15 minutes at 350 F, stirring occasionally in order to avoid burning. You now have roasted hazelnuts. Yay.
Now onto the caramel. You will need equal parts of sugar and water. I used 3:3 cups, I think you could get away with 2:2, there was a lot more caramel than nuts in the end. Combine in a pot and set over medium high heat. Do not stir. Stirring may cause crystalization which you want to avoid. After a little bit of boiling, the sugar will dissolve itself into the water, like so:
After some time, the sugar reduction will be more apparent and you will be able to see the caramelization take place. Once the sugar reduction starts changing color, you want to pay attention so that the sugar does not burn.
Once the sugar reduction has reached the color of your preference, add the hazelnuts and stir. Do this rapidly as the caramel will begin to harden immediately. Pour the mixture onto some parchment paper set on a sheet pan, level the mixture, and allow to cool.
Once cool, break the brittle up into pieces and toss it in the food processor. Today I learned that my food processor dislikes chopping up this much brittle at one time and will overheat. So you might want to do half and half, unless you make a smaller batch. Initially you will notice that the brittle is ground to a fine consistency, but the hazelnuts will begin to ooze out some oil and a paste will begin to form. It may be necessary to add some oil to get the consistency of your choosing. A nut oil is preferred, but vegetable oil is fine as well. You may add salt to taste at this point as well if you so choose. Salt can really enhance the flavor of caramel, so I personally enjoy adding it.
And voila! You now have praline paste. Good to be mixed with pastry cream, or used like peanut butter, or eaten right off the spoon, if the fancy strikes you. Or in my case, as an ingredient in a tart dough.
