Almost Almond Praline

Inspired by MasterChef, I started out with the intention of making an almond praline to top my dad’s Dulce de Leche Birthday Cheesecake. I’d never made praline, and having tackled a proper caramel only once before, I thought this was a nice challenge for at home.

I was acutely aware of how much Matt Preston enjoys slightly bitter caramel, and I was determined to get the praline to just the perfect almost-burnt caramelness.

My Brittle Inspiration

Partway through the process I got dreaming about an exquisite peanut brittle I purchased at The Edge Food Store. It was made by The Brittle Co, and absolutely divine. My mind wandered to moments of fighting over the last piece of brittle with other girls at work… it really was that good.

So, I started to surmise I could make great brittle, and top my cheesecake with that instead of almost praline.

Have you ever eaten a Daim? My first introduction to these addictive little beast was a visit to the food section of Ikea. They’re a delicious caramel-like concoction covered in chocolate. Well the caramel has got this nice textural snap to it, it’s hard to describe, but it snaps cleanly, and not unexpectedly like praline does.

I vaguely recalled that the Daim contains almond meal, and I presumed this is now that nice textural snap is achieved.

I didn’t have any almond meal on hand, but considered dessicated coconut would do a similar job. So it was added to the recipe.

The Final Recipe (or pretty close to)

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 80ml water
• 40g unsalted butter
• 100g slivered almonds
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• ½ tsp bicarb of soda
• ¼ tsp salt flakes

Method

1. Roast almonds in the oven at 180°C for about 15 minutes, or until they change colour to golden brown. They will smell amazingly delicious and you’ll want to pinch one off the tray!
2. Prepare a flat tray with baking paper, and spray with some oil. This will be to lay the brittle down flat.
3. Put sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat. Heat until about 150°C, or just starting to change colour and develop some caramel tones.
4. Add butter and salt flakes. Continue to cook to 165°C, or a deep, rich caramel colour.
5. Quickly add the almonds, coconut and mix through.
6. Once combined, add the bicarb of soda. The mixture will froth and increase in volume.
7. As fast as you can put onto your prepared tray, and flatten out. The brittle will set fairly fast, you have less than 60 seconds to get it thinned out.
8. Place brittle in a cool place to set hard. Try to defend it against others in the household… it’ll be really hot, but smell oh so amazing.

The Result

I really couldn’t have wished for a better invention. My first batch of almond brittle was perfect! I was so impressed with it that I went to see an old friend who had fought for that last piece of The Brittle Co’s brittle, and asked for feedback. She too said it was awesome!

If you can adjust the recipe and improve, please do let me know.

Related Recipes

• Dulce de Leche Cheesecake