National Pralines Day Date in the current year: June 24, 2024

The first pralines were made in France and they were nothing else but whole almonds covered with caramelized sugar. The treat got its name from a French soldier and diplomat César, duc de Choiseul, comte du Plessis-Praslin, whose cook invented pralines by dropping almonds into a boiling sugar.

Later pralines became known in different countries and confectioners invented new varieties of the treat. In Belgium and Germany pralines are any hard chocolate candies filled with ground nuts (that is also called praline paste). In Great Britain praline can refer to chocolate filling or to original almond pralines. American pralines are softer than any other. They contain milk or cream and pecan nuts. If you're still not confused, we admit, that today the French can refer to pralines as dragées, sugar coated almonds in a hard shell (Jordan almonds in the USA).

No matter what praline refers to, nuts are always involved. So chose you favorite type and celebrate the holiday.