The Paris Bakery That Made Pink Bread Famous
In twelve different bakery locations throughout France, among the baguettes and croissants, there’s one bread with a particular distinctive feature: It’s pink. Named La Praluline, the brioche-like bread almost glows from the window with its neon pink accoutrements. The bread, a gorgeous butter brioche, gets its color from the bright pink brushed pralines and almonds it’s filled with. The pralines get their distinctive pink colors from the mixture of Valencia almonds and Piedmont hazelnuts coated in rose sugar. The recipe was first invented by Auguste Pralus in 1955 in a little bakery in Roanne, the same year he won the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition. It’s been a signature of Paris (and French, in general) bakery culture ever since.
In 1988, Auguste’s son, François, took over the business and continues to produce the incredibly unique bread today. François also happens to be one of the best bean-to-bar chocolatiers in all of France, with his own cocoa bean plantation in Madagascar.
“His customers demanded a brioche with pralines, as is done in the Rhône-Alpes region,” he says, remembering the story his father told him about the creation of La Praluline when he was a child. “So he created this pastry that hasn’t left the Pralus showcases since.”
When Auguste was dreaming up La Praluline, he wanted to do something others hadn’t done before. This kind of bread existed previously in the Roanne region, but Pralus made it known worldwide by tweaking the recipe, as described by François. “My father told me that his customers asked him to make them a brioche with pralines, as bakers do in our area,” says François. “But he didn't want to do the same thing as the bakers. So he created a brioche with pralines in his own way. Very simply. Success was immediate!”
Stepping inside one of the Pralus’ bakeries in France, you’ll see photos of the original bakery in Roanne that Francis refers to. You’ll also see portraits of his father Auguste, neatly hanging on the wall above all the beautiful chocolates and the signature pink bread. La Praluline is usually showcased in the windows of all the stores, often attracting tourists and French locals alike, especially at the busy Paris and Lyon locations. Even the storefronts and awnings have been designed to have a similar signature fuchsia hue that mimics the nuts. The shops have been constructed with such an emphasis on La Praluline, that visits can often see the bread being baked. “I imagined a shop concept allowing to see the pastry cooks work,” says François.
Not only is the bread visually stunning, it’s also delicious.. The recipe, unchanged since it was first conceived in 1955, is a secret. But Francis chalks up the immediate success and deliciousness to one thing that he can share with us: butter. A quick Google search of the recipe will reveal that many have tried to replicate the exact La Praluline sold at Pralus. Some even claim to have the real recipe. “We bake our brioche in each shop and the pralines are made in our factory, in Roanne. The quality of nuts and almonds—from Piemont and Valencia—we use is very important for the recipe. We use the best quality butter too.”
“With my father, I learned the basics of my job, to select the best ingredients,” he says, of his own inspiration to work as a chocolatier. In addition to having his own cocoa plantation, the Pralus company also manufactures nearly 100 tons of chocolate each year.
In the early 2000s, the bakery chain celebrated the 50 year anniversary of La Praluline by creating an entirely new edition of the bread for limited edition sale: The Pralusienne: a praluline topped with a light vanilla cream from Madagascar. Up next? The 65th year anniversary, coming in 2020. Until then, François will continue to put a focus on one of the world’s most unique breads, while pursuing the future of chocolate: ““I thank my father every day for creating the Praluline, which is known today all over the world,” he says.
