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Succès praliné (praline meringue)

The "succès" (success) is a classic of traditional French patisserie, made with two layers of almond meringue filled with praline butter cream. It's very rich and a little old-fashioned these days, but still has many faithful fans.
The original recipe comes from the master chef Gaston Lenôtre, and became one of his most famous cakes, but this version is a little easier to make.

363K 3× 4.3/5 based on 61 reviews

Last modified on: June 20^th 2010

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For 1 succès (meringue), you will need:

1 3 egg whites
2 0 kg icing sugar
3 0 kg ground almonds
4 a little icing sugar
5 1 cup Butter cream
6 ¼ cup Praline

Change these quantities to make:

1 succès (meringue)2 succès (meringue)3 succès (meringue)

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Times for this recipe

Preparation: 2 hours 16 min.

Resting: 1 hour 20 min.

Cooking: 40 min.

All in all: 4 hours 16 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 20 min.

Prepare an almond meringue by beating 3 egg whites to stiff peak stage, then add 0 kg icing sugar at the end.

When the meringue is mixed, sprinkle 0 kg ground almonds over and incorporate by tilting the bowl on its side and folding in gently with a maryse, so as not to lose the volume of the meringue.

Your almond meringue is ready.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F).

Place a large sheet of cooking parchment on your worktop and draw a circle about 20 cm or 8" in diameter on the rougher side of the paper, the smooth side being for the meringue.

Use compasses or draw round an upturned plate or large metal ring.

Stage 3 - 5 min.

Fix the sheet, smooth side uppermost on a baking sheet.

Prepare 2 baking sheets like this.

Stage 4 - 10 min.

Take a forcing bag and a large nozzle (diameter 16), and fill with almond meringue.

Then pipe a spiral without going beyond the edge of the circle you have drawn, starting at the outside and working towards the centre.

It's important to keep the meringue light and not crush it, ideally the spiral should be at least as thick as the diameter of the nozzle.

Make two identical circles.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

If you have some meringue left over, make shapes like finger biscuits, which are good for accompanying desserts like fresh mint ice cream or fruit salad for example.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Sprinkle the circles with a little a little icing sugar.

Stage 7 - 40 min.

Put in the oven without delay, one above the other, for about 30-40 minutes. After 20 minutes swap the sheets over and turn them round to ensure even cooking.

Stage 8 - 20 min.

Watch the cooking carefully, and remove the meringues from the oven as soon as they are nicely coloured.

It's quite possible that, depending on your oven, you'll need to take one meringue out 10 minutes before the other, which hasn't coloured as quickly.

Handle carefully: take off the paper sheets and put to cook on a rack. Your "succès" bases are ready.

Stage 9 - 58 min.

Prepare 1 cup Butter cream and fold in ¼ cup Praline.

Note: If you have prepared the butter cream in advance, remove from the fridge 1 hour before using, so that it has time to soften.

Stage 10 - 5 min.

Place a meringue base on a chopping board, if you have a metal dessert ring, put this over the base and press down hard to even up the shape.

If you don't have a ring, just place a plate on top...

Stage 11 - 5 min.

... and cut round with a knife to trim off the excess...

Stage 12 - 10 min.

... until you have a perfect circle.

Do this for both bases.

Share the offcuts around any folks hovering in the kitchen - sure to bring you "succès"!

Stage 13 - 3 min.

Assembling the cake:

Place the less good of the bases on the serving plate (if possible, put a paper doily on the plate first to make it prettier).

If you have a dessert ring it will be much easier.

Stage 14 - 7 min.

Cover this base with an even layer of praline butter cream.

Stage 15 - 1 hour

And place the second circle of meringue on top.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Stage 16 - 1 min.

Shortly before serving, dust the top with a little iciing sugar and remove the ring.

Remarks

You can make this cake the day before and keep it in the fridge without it suffering.

The praline butter cream can be replaced by another filling, but the name "succès praliné" will no will no longer be appropriate.

Keeping: 1 or 2 days in the fridge, folded in a plastic film.

Source: After Gaston Lenôtre.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	70 30 %	690 70 %	420 60 %	6,840 340 %	28,650 340 %
Per 100 g	10 5 %	120 10 %	80 10 %	1,240 60 %	5,210 60 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Egg, Nuts, Milk

How much will it cost?

For 1 succès (meringue) : 2.87 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

Butter cream

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:

Icing sugar

Like these other recipes: Stuffed prunes, Cigarettes Russes (Piroulines), Nanou's chocolate cake, Pistachio "Financiers", Financier batter, ... See them all 58

Ground almonds

Like these other recipes: Pear, grapefruit and pistachio tart, Apple and almond cake, Macaronade mixture, Caramelized apple rice pudding, Moist cereal bars, ... See them all 44

Praline

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Paris-Brest, Praline rochers, ... See them all 2

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The 3 comments already posted on this recipe

When I was a student in France many years ago, a local patisserie made miniature succes. It was my favorite cake, and I have thought of that pastry with longing. Thanks for the recipe.
Posted by Claire january 16^th 2013 at 13:44 n° 3
Thank you Louise! You know it's Nanou's favourite cake, I MUST do it for her bithday.P.S. No not USA this summer, we will be closer in London.
Posted by jh june 22^th 2010 at 20:26 n° 2
Oh JH it looks simply heavenly. I would love to try to create something as beautiful one day. Thank you for your step by step instructions. LouiseP.S. Will you be vacationing here again this year:)
Posted by Louise june 21^th 2010 at 20:10 n° 1

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