What is a Praline?

Praline’s takes its ice cream pretty seriously. Praline’s delights in making customers happy by serving up the best-tasting ice cream made with the best ingredients.

Some of you might be wondering: What is a praline and where did it come from?

We have the answers to these questions. It’s time to take a closer look at one of our favorite sweet treats.

A praline is basically a sugar candy. It’s made from nuts and sugar syrup. There are all sorts of variation on Praline’s. We’ll identify a few.

Pralines are a big deal in the southern U.S. Go online and you’ll find lots of recipes for southern pralines. Almost all of them include caramel and pecans. You’ll find recipes that call for brown sugar and some that make no mention of brown sugar. There are recipes that include things like baking soda, evaporated milk, buttermilk, and other ingredients.

Original pralines didn’t start out in the south. Original pralines were made with almonds. That’s because almonds were the preferred nut of the French and pralines in America came out of the Creole regions of Louisiana. That’s because French settlers brought pralines to Louisiana. Creole recipes eventually swapped out the almonds for the cheaper (and oftentimes more plentiful) pecan. They also used more sugar (since sugar cane was also more plentiful).

The praline found in parts of Europe remains a different concoction from the praline we enjoy here in the U.S. Pralines in Belgium and France are a smooth paste of cocoa blended with finely ground nuts. They are used to fill chocolate nuts.

Pralines are not the easiest things to make. They require lots of attention and plenty of patience. Also stirring. Stirring helps.

Pralines and cream has been a popular ice cream flavor for decades. Praline’s features a Pralines n’ Cream ice cream made with brown sugar and butter ice cream. It has pecan nuts covered in butter and brown sugar. We’re sure folks from the south would be proud.