Hazelnut Praline Milk 55%

Lait au Praline Noisettes by Chocolat Bonnat, soft and nutty

Lait au Praline Noisettes by Chocolat Bonnat is a milk chocolate containing fine hazelnut praliné. Roasted hazelnuts and sugar are ground into a paste for this purpose, which gives the bar its soft snap and round roasted aroma.

Lait au Praline Noisettes is the softest bar from Chocolat Bonnat, made in Voiron in the French Isère region. Nearly one-third of the 100-gram bar consists of praliné, and this high proportion removes the hard snap from the light-colored mass that its dark siblings exhibit.

Roasted hazelnut over light milk chocolate

It breaks more quietly than a dark bar because the praliné keeps the mass supple.

In the mouth, the milk comes first, light and round, and only then does the roasted hazelnut aroma move to the front, where it lingers for a long time. The sugar is ground in as well, making it barely detectable as grains, so a piece melts rather than snaps.

The cocoa remains in the background, providing only the dark foundation upon which the nut rests. Anyone who places it next to a plain milk chocolate will immediately notice how much denser it appears.

Those who usually find light chocolate too sweet will get on well with this one, as the roasting brings its own slightly bitter edge. It is the obvious choice for a café au lait in the afternoon, and grated over warm rice pudding, it melts instantly.

Praliné, an old art of French patisserie

In France, praliné is the name for the paste created when roasted nuts and sugar are finely ground together in a roller mill.

During roasting, the thin skin of the hazelnut loosens, the oil rises to the surface, and the kernel develops its aroma; this exact step determines the character of the entire bar later on. If roasted for too short a time, the nut retains a "green" flavor; if roasted too long, it becomes bitter.

Chocolat Bonnat grinds so finely that the nut is experienced as an aroma rather than a chunk, and then stirs the praliné into the still-warm mass. Finely ground instead of coarsely chopped also means that every piece tastes the same.

From the breakfast table to the dessert bowl

Once melted, the mass becomes liquid at even low heat while remaining surprisingly silky.

Place the pieces in a bowl over a water bath, stir in a spoonful of cream, and drizzle over vanilla ice cream or warm pears. For a quick mousse, the melted mass combined with whipped cream is sufficient; additional sugar would only get in the way.

On the breakfast table, a grated layer replaces bottled hazelnut spread and offers more roast character than any spread.

Stored cool, the roasted aroma remains

Wrap the opened bar back in its paper and store it in a cool place, as nut oil quickly absorbs foreign odors.

It tastes cooler and firmer straight from the refrigerator, while at room temperature it releases the roasted aroma sooner; both have their appeal depending on the season. A piece on a still-warm croissant melts in seconds, turning it into a second breakfast.

The sister variety with almonds is called Lait au Praline Amandes, and the plain light version is the Chocolat au Lait. All origins from the house can be found in the Chocolat Bonnat collection.