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Almond Praline Powder

This nutty powder is a great garnish. I use powders like this whenever I want to add flavor to a dessert without adding heaviness. My buddy and fellow pastry chef Sam Mason developed this as peanut butter powder when he was working at the restaurant wd-50 in New York. He shared the technique with me, and I’ve adapted it to make a praline powder perfumed with citrus.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes about 3/4 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125g) praline paste
1 cup (16g) tapioca maltodextrin
1/8 teaspoon (0.5g) coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon (0.8g) orange oil
1/4 teaspoon (0.8g) lemon oil
Grated zest of 1/4 orange
Grated zest of 1/4 lemon

Preparation

  1. Put the praline paste, tapioca maltodextrin, salt, orange oil, lemon oil, and zests in a food processor. Process, scraping the sides and bottom of the processor several times, until the mixture forms a powder. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Reprinted with permission from Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Copyright © 2008 by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Published by Crown Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Johnny Iuzzini,, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book. Roy Finamore, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.__
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