Almond Praline (recipe)

Almond Praline. Great to sprinkle on top of ice cream, cakes, trifles etc for that extra crunch!

 

Recipe for Almond Praline:

Ingredients:

100g of caster sugar

25mL of water

200g of roasted almonds

You will (preferably) also need:

Pastry brush + some extra cold water in a small bowl 

Lined baking tray with baking paper 

Food processor (or rolling pin...)

Method:

1. Place the sugar and water into a saucepan over a medium heat. Do not stir the sugar. Whilst waiting for the sugar to dissolve, use a wet pastry brush to brush the sides of the saucepan, just above the level of the water. This prevents your sugar from crystalising. It is okay to gently swirl your pan, but not to stir!

2. Once the caramel has reached a nice brown, caramel colour, add the roasted almonds, swirling your pan to ensure you get an even coat

3. Empty out onto the lined baking tray, it doesn't matter if the praline is not totally flat, but as you pour it out of the pan make sure it's not just sitting in one big heap. Remember this stage is extremely hot and sticky, so the less you play with it, the better! don't be tempted to dip your finger in for a taste!

4. Wait for the praline to completely cool, and then blitz away in your food processor! (or place the praline in a clean tea towel, visualise your mortal enemy, and bash away with a rolling pin)

Help! Why does my caramel crystallise?!

Caramel tends to crystallise a lot more easily when using the wet method (sugar + water). When you melt such a large quantity of sugar into such a small quantity of water, it becomes very hard for the water to retain all those melted sugar crystals. As soon as something such as a wooden spoon, or even a sugar crystal that has developed on the sides of the pan, falls into the mixture, it gives the dissolves sugar crystals something to 'crystalise' on to.
That's why other methods such as the dry method (just melting pure sugar), or adding butter, condensed milk etc may sometimes be preferred as they result in a lesser chance of ending up with a crystallised mess of sugar.
With that said, making your own caramel is not as hard as it sounds! Once you start discovering the endless possibilities of all things that sugar can make, you'll never stop making them! (Such as these amazingly, addictive, coffee toffee's!)