Sesame praliné

[Rajala]

So I've been trying to find a recipe for sesame praliné. In my mind it's just 50 percent sesame seeds 50 percent sugar, but while searching the web, people seems to use butter and almond? Anyone got a good recipe? Is almond a question about cost or just to get a balanced taste? What's your experience?

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, Rajala said:

So I've been trying to find a recipe for sesame praliné. In my mind it's just 50 percent sesame seeds 50 percent sugar, but while searching the web, people seems to use butter and almond? Anyone got a good recipe? Is almond a question about cost or just to get a balanced taste? What's your experience?

Check out Greweling's recipe for sesame squares. He uses sesame paste (tahini) as well as toasted sesame seeds. It is delicious, although cutting it into squares is tricky because of the firmness of the croquant.

[Rajala]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

Check out Greweling's recipe for sesame squares. He uses sesame paste (tahini) as well as toasted sesame seeds. It is delicious, although cutting it into squares is tricky because of the firmness of the croquant.

 

Oh, of course there's one in the book. Thanks, will look at that.  

Edited October 24, 2018 by Rajala
Spelling (log)

[A Polderman]

Hi Jim, SO it sounds like you have prepared Peter Grewelings Tahini Squares recipe? I am curious what you used for your "heavy plastic  sheets" to roll the croquant out? I first attempted to use my heavy acrylic boards which happens to be a supply he lists in the front of his book. That didn't work well, finally after retempering my chocolate now with sesames in it!!!!  I settled on rolling it between two textured plastic fondant sheets but they measure only 8.5 X 11 and the recipe calls for a finished 12 x 12 inch sq. As it turns out the final size happened to be a nice thickness I cant imagine getting it to roll an additional 4" thinner and my final product depth of that layer looks about the same as in the book?????  One thought I had was that my chocolate may need to have a lower viscosity??? Thoughts… advice... and your technique would be appreciated.

[Jim D.]

I do not claim to be an expert on this recipe. It is delicious, but I find it very difficult to get it to come out the way Greweling's does. Because the chocolate "crust" is so firm, I could not get neat squares, and since it (obviously) cannot be cut on a guitar, I have basically given up on the recipe--the way it is specified. I have switched to an alternative molded bonbon that has the same flavors, but turns out very well.

 

But as for your questions:  I used an 16" x 24" acetate sheet that I got from JB Prince and use mostly for creating slabs to be cut and dipped. Like you, I could not get the chocolate layer as thin as Greweling says. Another issue I had is that if I roll the croquant with a rolling pin to separate the sesame seeds (as specified), they tend to be crushed and lose some of their desired crunch. I was afraid of leaving caramel bits that were too large and hard, posing a threat to my customers' teeth.

 

Yet another issue is finding a satisfactory tahini paste. There is a reply to my query about this somewhere on eGullet, but I don't have the time right now to locate it; in that post, shain (who lives in Israel) listed several good ones. I used Soom, which suffered a food recall not long ago, but seems fine now. Getting tahini that uses roasted sesame seeds seems to be the key to flavor.

[keychris]

tahini with roasted sesame seeds is so easy to make at home if you have an oven and a blender!

[A Polderman]

Thanks Jim for the details on how you worked through the steps and how you made alterations. I wanted to make them originally as a bon bon with colored cocoabutter painted in the mold but the specific mold I wanted has not come into stock yet. I don't have a guitar cutter and didn't even think about the crust being too hard to cut on one! I actually have made my own multi bladed caramel cutter and used that to cut through the ganache layer then used a thin long knife to finish cutting the crust and it came out decent but not as perfect as I would have liked.

 

I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I am changing up the top layer using white chocolate and tahini. The first attempt I made my own tahini as keychris suggested and it turned out but was too overly toasted for my taste so I am using "trader joes" tahini. The label does not specify the sesames to be toasted and it is quite mild in flavor but I think that works better with white chocolate so it is staying in my recipe for now till I have time to try to make my own that is more like that flavor profile I am looking for.

 

I sprinkled smoked Spanish paprika on the crust prior to pouring my white ganache layer then sea salt and more smoked paprika on top of the ganache layer. I am finishing mine by hand dipping them in dark chocolate rather than the partial dip as the recipe calls for and I am decorating with hand painted transfer sheets. We will see how well that turns out??? I haven't placed my hand painted transfer sheets on top of a hand dipped piece before but they have worked well in my magnet molds.

 

It did cross my mind to use acetate sheets but my textured sheets are thicker so I think I will stick with those till I get comfortable with the process as its a bit tricky because time is of the essence and you gotta have a game plan UP FRONT or you wind up retempering chocolate will sesame seeds in it, not fun.

 

As for the rolling out the sesames I am glad to know I am not the only one feeling like I pulverized them!! I switched rolling pins and found the weight of my traditional wooden rolling pin worked better when I rolled lighter breaking the mass rather than crushing it. But like you mentioned it left some larger prices that I had to re-roll.

 

I attached a photo of my home made caramel cutter and a photo of what my undipped sesame tahini pieces look like prior to dipping. They will be finished tomorrow so I can post a photo of the finished pieces later. Thanks again for your advice and its nice to know there are others working through the process.   

[Jim D.]

That cutter is impressive--I wish I had your mechanical skills.

 

This is off your topic, but I am impressed with the fact that you make your own transfer sheets. I bought the plastic sheets intended for this purpose and made some (what I thought were) impressive designs, but the cocoa butter cracked off in pieces once it was in place (either on top of a slab or in a magnetic mold). I assumed the cocoa butter was too thick, but when you do things like splatter it across the plastic or paint it n various colors, they are bound to get thick. What are you secrets? If you have some ideas you are willing to share, it might be better to direct this discussion to an existing thread on making transfer sheets.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Jim D. (log)

[teonzo]

Some thoughts (never tried this recipe).

 

I suppose Greweling has access to a two cilinders refiner, it would be much effective than a rolling pin for breaking the sesame croquant. If you only have a rolling pin, then I would suggest to roll the croquant in various phases: roll it lightly, use a sieve with the correct size and sieve the pieces; roll again the big pieces, sieve them; repeat till done. This way you avoid rolling again and again the small pieces, which is the action that breaks them.

 

For the base, it depends on the chocolate you are using. If you have troubles spreading it then you can add some neutral vegetable oil (like rice bran), this will thin the chocolate, will not affect shelf life, will make the cutting job easier. You can roll the mixture for the base over a warm pan/whatever, so the mixture will remain pliable for longer time.

 

For cutting the final squares, using a guitar cutter seems like an error in the text, you are gonna break lots of them. Your custom wheel cutter is awesome, but the problem with wheel cutters is that it's easy to get a sesame seed attached to a wheel, this will prevent you from getting a clean cut as long as the wheel keeps rolling. In my opinion for this cases it's better to use a big scraper (like the ones you use to scrape bonbon molds, but bigger). Scrapers are sold in various sizes, you need one that fits the measures of the slab you are going to cut (or better, you need to position the confectionery rulers according to the dimension of your scraper). When the ganache is set you lightly score it along the lines you need to cut it, then lay the scraper along one line, press it down vertically to cut, pull it up, clean it, proceed again for the next line. Do this while the confectionery rulers are still in position. This way you get clean cuts even for the base, only difficulty is keeping the scraper perfectly vertical while pressing it to cut.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[A Polderman]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 12:06 PM, Jim D. said:

11 hours ago, Jim D. said:

That cutter is impressive--I wish I had your mechanical skills.

 

This is off your topic, but I am impressed with the fact that you make your own transfer sheets. I bought the plastic sheets intended for this purpose and made some (what I thought were) impressive designs, but the cocoa butter cracked off in pieces once it was in place (either on top of a slab or in a magnetic mold). I assumed the cocoa butter was too thick, but when you do things like splatter it across the plastic or paint it n various colors, they are bound to get thick. What are you secrets? If you have some ideas you are willing to share, it might be better to direct this discussion to an existing thread on making transfer sheets.

 

 

Thanks Jim,

I am responding to a little of this and that so tell me if I am wrong as I am new to this forum but will repost what is relevant to transfer sheets only to your recommended thread but to you I will post the rest of the conversation.

 

As for making the cutter, It was EASY! I live in the Seattle area and we have a couple of metal shops one is called online metals and they ship too. I bought my steel rod from them 316 stainless and it cost me MORE in toll fess to get it then it did for the steel rod! I purchased  pizza wheels from our restaurant supply store and some stainless spacers for $5 dollars each from a specialty hardware store. My husbands cousin came up with the idea to use the pipe clamps to keep them on and the handles are just plastic pipe from home depot plumbing dept. It works very well at cutting my caramels and ganache's.

 

[A Polderman]

4 hours ago, teonzo said:

Some thoughts (never tried this recipe).

 

I suppose Greweling has access to a two cilinders refiner, it would be much effective than a rolling pin for breaking the sesame croquant. If you only have a rolling pin, then I would suggest to roll the croquant in various phases: roll it lightly, use a sieve with the correct size and sieve the pieces; roll again the big pieces, sieve them; repeat till done. This way you avoid rolling again and again the small pieces, which is the action that breaks them.

 

For the base, it depends on the chocolate you are using. If you have troubles spreading it then you can add some neutral vegetable oil (like rice bran), this will thin the chocolate, will not affect shelf life, will make the cutting job easier. You can roll the mixture for the base over a warm pan/whatever, so the mixture will remain pliable for longer time.

 

For cutting the final squares, using a guitar cutter seems like an error in the text, you are gonna break lots of them. Your custom wheel cutter is awesome, but the problem with wheel cutters is that it's easy to get a sesame seed attached to a wheel, this will prevent you from getting a clean cut as long as the wheel keeps rolling. In my opinion for this cases it's better to use a big scraper (like the ones you use to scrape bonbon molds, but bigger). Scrapers are sold in various sizes, you need one that fits the measures of the slab you are going to cut (or better, you need to position the confectionery rulers according to the dimension of your scraper). When the ganache is set you lightly score it along the lines you need to cut it, then lay the scraper along one line, press it down vertically to cut, pull it up, clean it, proceed again for the next line. Do this while the confectionery rulers are still in position. This way you get clean cuts even for the base, only difficulty is keeping the scraper perfectly vertical while pressing it to cut.

 

 

 

Teo

 

Thanks Teo, I will try the rice bran oil. But yes, the recipe specifically calls for cutting the squares on a "22.5 mm strings on a guitar." But then again if you look at Grewelings professional photos page 424, 425 of chocolate & Confections 2nd ed. and then mine, the sesame and chocolate on his are like they were slice perfectly with no jagged edges. I would think you are correct a guitar string would break the product but I don't have a guitar to test it.

 

I thought about getting a long flat slicing blade PRIOR to making my multi wheel cutter so I will look for one. In the interim, I am going to try to make my version of this recipe as Jim did using a mold to achieve a cleaner and finer end product.

 

Thank you for your advise and opinion, I see you are from Italy. I have fond memories of a the chocolate Laboratory in Montepulciano where I had the largest white chocolate/biscotti/pistachio paste truffle rolled in dark chocolate and chopped pistachios and they were kind enough to email me the ingredient list so I could make it when I returned home, Now I just wish we had pistachios as good as in Italy! 

[Bentley]

Stephan Leroux has a recipe a sesame praliné.  It is a basic 60% praliné that uses half almonds, half sesame seeds. He then mixes the paste with chocolate and cocoa butter to create a gianduja-like product that can be framed and cut. 

[Jim D.]

35 minutes ago, Bentley said:

Stephan Leroux has a recipe a sesame praliné.  It is a basic 60% praliné that uses half almonds, half sesame seeds. He then mixes the paste with chocolate and cocoa butter to create a gianduja-like product that can be framed and cut. 

That sounds very intriguing. Do you have a source for the recipe?

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Bentley said:

Stephan Leroux has a recipe a sesame praliné.  It is a basic 60% praliné that uses half almonds, half sesame seeds. He then mixes the paste with chocolate and cocoa butter to create a gianduja-like product that can be framed and cut. 

This post makes me happy. I jumped into this thread excited only to see the question regarding making a sesame praline immediately jump to just buying a jar of tahini. I'm in no way begrudging the suggestion to use commercial tahini, just happy to see some information regarding the initial question turn up because I was never curious about sesame praline until I saw this discussion... now I'm very much curious. 

[Bentley]

29 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

That sounds very intriguing. Do you have a source for the recipe?

It's his book, which I believe is called simply "Le Praliné"