Hello friends,
We’re diving headfirst into Christmas recipes! I assure you this one can be enjoyed all year round! I see we have some sweet-tooths among us! 😉
Today, I felt like making something truly indulgent, delicious, easy to prepare, and guaranteed to impress at the table. Are you ready?
Here are my chocolate fondants with praline ganache for Christmas!
Chocolate and Hazelnut: The Perfect Combo for Winter
The combination of chocolate and hazelnut shines particularly well in pastries due to their exceptional aromatic harmony.
The hazelnut brings warm, roasted, and slightly sweet notes that enhance the depth of chocolate, especially dark or milk varieties. This pairing achieves a perfect balance of richness, intensity, and sweetness.
From a sensory standpoint, the crunch of the hazelnut contrasts beautifully with the melting chocolate, delivering an irresistible texture that characterizes many delights, such as praline, gianduja, or rocky road.
Chemically, roasting hazelnuts releases aromatic compounds similar to those found in chocolate, explaining their natural synergy. Together, they offer a rich and comforting flavor profile that can elevate mousses, ganaches, cookies, or spreads.
This pairing, deeply rooted in pastry tradition, is universally indulgent and perfectly balanced in intensity.
Chocolate Fondant
Why search for something else at 2 PM? When you have a great recipe, there’s no need to look further. So, I simply started from mychocolate fondant base. Since I wanted to use my cannelé molds, I just adjusted the baking time. That’s all there is to it…
The Choice of Cookies
Clearly, you might guess that I’m going to recommend making your own cookies, and for three main reasons.
Firstly, I can assure you that myhazelnut cookiesare outstanding. So why not indulge? They’ll also be more affordable than store-bought options, allowing us to control all the ingredients (no preservatives…), which is important!
Additionally, for this specific recipe, homemade cookies let you create a personalized visual. I made whole stars for the base of my dessert and stars with a hole (I used a small round tip to cut out the center of the cookie). This way, some of the ganache and treats remain visible, making a lovely presentation. Don’t you think? 
The Praline Hazelnut Ganache
All the richness of this dessert lies in balancing chocolate and hazelnut. I opted for a hazelnut praline ganache. I used my recipe forpraline whipped ganache, but without whipping it! ?
However, this isn’t mandatory. You could also choose a praline almond ganache, which would work wonderfully as well. In that case, I recommend pairing it with almond cookies and coated almonds to maintain consistency.
You will likely have some leftover ganache, as it’s tough to adjust ingredient quantities for a smaller batch. It keeps well for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, so you can use it for other delightful treats…
My Special Touch
I sprinkled somehazelnut crumbleover each fondant for added crunch. This is not essential, which is why I didn’t include it in the recipe steps below, but it is a lovely addition if you have time to prepare it! 
Storing Your Chocolate Fondants and Praline Ganache
This dessert has a major advantage: it can be made in advance! The cookies, for instance, can be stored for several weeks in a metal tin. This is a part of the recipe you can easily prepare ahead of time.
Once assembled, your chocolate fondants with praline ganache for Christmas will easily last for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. So you can prepare them the day before your meal with ease. That’s nice, isn’t it?
The Necessary Utensils:
A small saucepan,
A whisk,
A spatula,
Cannelé molds,
A piping bag,
A round tip size 14,
And a paring knife.
There you go! This festive dessert holds no secrets for you any longer. Head to the kitchen and start making your chocolate fondants and praline ganache for Christmas!
The recipe, Chef!
Chocolate Fondants and Praliné Ganache for Christmas
( Vote !) 
Loading...Ingredients
- Praline Ganache
- 40 g white chocolate
- 50 g + 50 g liquid cream
- 35 g praline
- Fondant
- 100 g dark baking chocolate
- 90 g butter
- 85 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon flour
- Finishing
- 12 hazelnut cookies
- 9 chocolate-covered hazelnuts or candies
Instructions
Praline Ganache
Pour 50 g of cream into a small saucepan.
Heat. Stop as soon as it boils.
Add the white chocolate. Mix as soon as the chocolate is melted, then add the praline.
Then add the 50 g of cold cream, mix well.
Cover directly (cover the preparation with cling film without leaving air bubbles between the preparation and the film).
Set aside in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Fondant
Preheat your oven to 185 degrees.
Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a bain-marie.
Off the heat, add the sugar and mix until you have a well-homogeneous preparation.
Then add the eggs one by one while whisking vigorously.
Finish by pouring in the sifted flour and whisk again.
Pour your batter into your buttered canelé molds, filling them two-thirds full.
Bake and cook for 16 minutes.
Let cool on a rack.
Finishing
Arrange your fondants on a hazelnut biscuit.
Pipe a large ball of ganache on top.
Place a hazelnut biscuit on top and add 3 halved coated hazelnuts on each cake.
Store in the refrigerator or serve immediately.
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