Praline & gianduja
The Praline & gianduja family in the formulator. An anhydrous fat system, what it covers and how to invoke it.
What it is
The Praline & gianduja family in the formulator groups together fillings based on a continuous, anhydrous fat system: nuts roasted, caramelized and ground into a cream, with no free water. Unlike ganache or truffle, no cream, purées or liqueurs that bring water are used here. It's one of the two new families in the module, alongside Truffle.
Gianduja is the chocolate variant: chocolate + 100% nut paste + powdered sugar, ground into a fine cream.
What it covers
- 47 canonical recipes based on published formulas (Callebaut Academy, Cacao Barry, Valrhona, Greweling, among others), with a wide range of freeze-dried fruit, giandujas and coffee, caramel and aromatic versions.
- A base technique of anhydrous creamy praline: no free water, no dairy, no liqueurs.
- A gianduja variant (chocolate + nut paste + powdered sugar).
- Only recipes with all their parameters within the type's range are delivered (score 100).
- An engine with a prompt specific to this family, distinct from the ganache, caramel and fruit-jelly ones: it never mixes techniques.
How to invoke it
Sidebar → Filling formulator → the What filling do you want to create? scene: click the Praline & gianduja card. Since it's a single-subtype family (Creamy praline), the wizard auto-selects the subtype and advances on its own to the next scene (flavor structure). Continue with flavors, weight and constraints as in Generate a filling.
What's guaranteed
- The recipe uses a controlled vocabulary and the ingredients specific to the technique (nut paste, powdered sugar, chocolate or couverture, no cream or purées).
- The result meets the physicochemical ranges signed off for the family. Broadly (provisional, pending chef sign-off): water 0.5–3%, sugars 25–62%, other fats 12–38%, cocoa butter 10–28%, aw 0.2–0.45.
- Being an anhydrous system, its aw is very low. The guidance period comes from the shelf-life reference on the aw card (see Estimated water activity); the Formulator gives no other periods.
- If it can't reach a valid score, the 12 credits are refunded.
The ranges for this family are provisional: they have a preliminary sign-off and are pending final chef review. The engine already applies them to validate the recipes.
Compatible flavors
Nuts with good coverage: hazelnut, almond, pistachio, peanut, sesame/tahini, coconut, coffee, pecan.
Accents that pair well: fleur de sel, candied orange, vanilla, tonka.
Since praline can't take free water, for this type the flavor picker only offers fruit in dry form (freeze-dried, dehydrated or candied) and hides liqueurs and dairy.
If your specific flavor doesn't appear in autocomplete, try a similar one. The catalog is expanded periodically.
Practical differences vs. ganache and truffle
| Praline & gianduja | Ganache | Truffle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| System | Anhydrous fat (no free water) | Cream-chocolate emulsion | Cream-couverture emulsion |
| Typical water | 0.5–3% | Defined by subtype | 10–26% (optimal ~20) |
| Dairy in the formula | No | Yes | Yes |
| Water activity (reference) | 0.2–0.45 | 0.78–0.86 | 0.75–0.85 |