Praline is generally believed to have been invented by a chef named Lassagne in the seventeenth century. The cookery school Maison de la Praline still stands in his hometown of Saint-Denis-de-Cabanne to this day.
Praline is traditionally made from almonds and sugar – the nuts are toasted and then coated with caramel. This can then be used as a confection, ground up to a powder for dusting or even blitzed into a sweet, nutty paste.
To use the praline as a powder, break into small pieces and transfer to a food processor and blitz until powdered. This powder can be sprinkled thinly on a baking sheet and baked in a very hot oven to create sugar tuiles. For a praline paste, continue to blitz after the power stage has been reached and after a few minutes the oils in the nuts will be released.
Almond may be the traditional choice but other nuts work just as well for praline; try hazelnut, macadamia, walnut or pistachio.