The term praline refers to a large assortment of chocolates, usually round in shape with a bite size that satisfies all palates. Pralines are soft and colorful bon bons, made with chocolate, garnished with chopped hazelnuts or pistachios, with flakes of coconut, bitter cocoa or tails. They are undoubtedly a refined and original way to use mascarpone, an inexpensive and widely used ingredient in the preparation of many Italian desserts, one above all is tiramisu. In preparing them you can really indulge yourself with both the filling and the garnish. Their size also makes them a “finger food” to all intents and purposes, so they are also a very practical and versatile dessert, which you can offer from a children’s party to an aperitif with friends. Delicious, fun to prepare and beautiful to look at, the mascarpone pralines they will make every event special!

Preparation

1

To prepare the mascarpone pralines, coarsely chop the chocolate with a knife.

2

Put it in a bowl suitable for cooking in a bain-marie, place this in a pot with water.

3

Then melt the chocolate over high heat keeping it stirred and continue until the chocolate has melted completely.

4

Then remove the bowl from the heat and add the mascarpone, mix.

5

Incorporate the melted chocolate with the mascarpone, stirring until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for at least two hours to solidify the dough.

6

Meanwhile, prepare the various garnishes in the saucers.

7

After two hours, with the help of a teaspoon, obtain balls of about 12 g and, with your hands, give them a round shape.

8

At this point, cover the pralines as you wish by dipping them in the various prepared ingredients.

9

When covering them, be careful not to leave parts of the praline uncovered. The decoration must be arranged evenly. Arrange the mascarpone pralines in paper cups and keep them in the fridge until serving.

Advice and tips

• The pralines they can be prepared the day beforebut it is better to add a little garnish before serving, in order to better preserve their consistency.
• You can serve the mascarpone pralines in elegant colored cups, or insert them in plastic or wooden sticks, for a children’s party they will become fun chupa chups, for example.
• You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave, but carefully follow these instructions: operate the oven for 10-15 seconds at minimum power. Do not exceed this timing, otherwise you risk burning it. Then remove the bowl and mix the chocolate, then put it back in the microwave, activating for another 10 seconds at minimum power. Proceed like this, until you will not have obtained a liquid chocolatefluid, creamy and without lumps.
• Pralines were born in Belgium, in 1912. Here, the chocolatier Jean Nehaus it was inspired by his grandfather, who to disguise the unpleasant taste of the medicines sold in his pharmacy, had the idea of ​​covering them in chocolate. The ploy was obviously a huge success and the nephew was able to draw inspiration from it to create his first “Belgian praline” which he called this to distinguish it from the French praline created in the seventeenth century.

storage

You can keep the mascarpone pralines in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2-3 days, covering them with transparent film.