There’s one surefire way to battle the Winter Doldrums: chocolate, and lots of it. So, we’ve turned to award-winning Pastry Chef, Martin Howard, to provide you with a scrumptious remedy to these snowy indoor days. His recipe for Chocolate Praline Bacon features the best of both worlds – Sinfully savory and heavenly sweet – layered into the perfect bite of richness and warmth.
Here is Martin’s easy step-by-step guide to this delectable treat. With the Winter Olympics right around the corner, why not gather some family and friends around your home this weekend and have everyone lend a hand to something delicious made right here in the U-S-A?
Chocolate Praline Bacon
First, you want to make the praline…
Pecan Praline:
– 12 ounces of Pecan Pieces
– ½ cup of Brown Sugar
– 1 tablespoon of Melted Butter
– 1 tablespoon of Egg White
– ¼ teaspoon of Allspice
– ½ teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
– ½ teaspoon of Salt
Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand. Then, spread this mixture out on a non-stick baking sheet. Place in a 325° oven. Stir the mixture every 5 minutes until the interior of the nuts are golden brown. That should take about a total of 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let mixture cool and then grind in a food processor. Spread this back out onto a baking sheet, forming 24 small rectangular piles (about 3 inches in length and 1 inch in width) and put to the side.
You’ll then need to prepare the following:
– 12 strips of crisply cooked bacon cut in half
– 8 ounces of Milk Chocolate, melted and tempered
– 2 ounces of White Chocolate, melted and tempered
Dip the bacon pieces into the Milk Chocolate and place on top of your 24 pecan praline mixtures.
Then, transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet, praline side up. Drizzle with White Chocolate and let set at room temperature. Store in air tight container.
