Praliné, an endlessly variable combination of ground nuts and sugar, is one of our favorite chocolate pairings. Here, Nicholas and our Confections team hand-craft five decadent Praliné varieties, showcasing five house-made nut or seed pâtes (pastes), each melded with — and encased in — a complementary single-origin 70% chocolate. Nicholas and team first caramelize nuts or seeds with sugar, then grind them to textural smoothness, while incorporating flavorful accent ingredients (such as piment d’espelette, and fleur de sel) — then blend with a chocolate origin selected for its enhancing flavor notes. Each rich, sweet-salty filling is shelled in its matching chocolate. The resulting five Pralinés balance sweet and salty, crisp and rich, nutty and piquant. Traditional confectionery components (such as almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios) shine with unexpected additions (crisped-corn quicos, Linea Caffe organic Colombian coffee beans); and are presented alongside an intriguing Praliné of umami-rich Japanese black-sesame paste.
