Chocolate papillotes

They sparkle with a thousand lights in their dress of light, but they also have taste to spare! Like all our chocolate delicacies, our praline papillotes (not to be confused with pralines, delicious colored Lyon candies) are crafted with exacting standards and expertise by our chocolatiers in our factory in Tours to guarantee their quality. Each one is coated with our homemade chocolate coating, made from a unique blend of cacaos carefully selected by us from producers who share our vision of quality and our exacting standards. The Maison offers six recipes, all praline, with three coated in our signature 65% dark chocolate coating and three in signature 36% milk chocolate: so no one is left out! To recognize our different recipes, look for the shiny colors of the papillotes. Good news for those who might have trouble choosing between all these flavors: our assortment bags are a true festival of flavors. So many excellent reasons to get your hand into the bag!

Our dark chocolate papillotes, so intense

Lovers of bold cacao flavors will melt for our dark chocolate papillote recipes. In the orange version, their almond-hazelnut praline is layered with dark chocolate shards : to die for, a gourmand's word. More classic in its green and gold dress, our chocolate hazelnut praline papillote offers a delicious contrast between the sweetness of the praline and the dark chocolate coating with bold flavors.

Our milk chocolate papillotes, so creamy

Choose between our three milk chocolate papillote recipes. Beneath its pink and gold paper, our milk gianduja papillote will delight even the most discerning palates with its pure almond and hazelnut praline, ground even more finely than traditional praline. A real treat, you'll hear about it.

You will be absolutely captivated by the charm of our new red papillote, whose milk chocolate coats a hazelnut praline heart enhanced with fleur de sel. Want more? Then taste our emerald green chocolate papillote, whose almond and hazelnut praline is slightly crispy thanks to crêpe dentelle shards: an irresistible blend of melt-in-the-mouth and crunch.

Our white chocolate papillotes, so delicious

In the blue and gold version, our savory nougatine almond praline papillote, coated in ivory white chocolate , will make you want to immediately unwrap another chocolate candy.

At the origin of the invention of chocolate papillotes were M. Papillot and his apprentice, madly in love

Legend has it that the papillote was invented in Lyon, in M. Papillot's confectionery and chocolate shop. But not by M. Papillot! Around 1790, this artisan discovers that his apprentice is stealing chocolates from him... But not to eat them! The young man is in love with a young girl who lives above the chocolate shop. He cannot speak to her, but he has the lovely idea of writing sweet notes to her, which he slips into the packaging of the stolen chocolates before sending them to her. A really lovely gesture! But the poor man is fired when his scheme is discovered. Although we do not know the outcome of his love story, we know that M. Papillot keeps the idea and launches the papillotes. He replaces the love notes with amusing stories and little games, which contribute to the success of this treat. Since then, chocolate recipe variants have been created using candied fruit, and some chocolatiers have amused themselves by adding firecrackers to them, delighting mischievous gourmands.

Where does the name papillote come from?

They bear the name of the man who made them famous, M. Papillot, who had the idea of adopting that of his apprentice. But the word "papillote" has other roots in the French language. Robert tells us that it derives from the word "papillon" (butterfly), and designated gold or silver tinsel with which fabrics were adorned. A lovely evocation of the fringed and shiny ends of our dear candies, which suggest the shimmering colors of butterfly wings.

The word "papillote" was also used by wigmakers and hairdressers of yesteryear to designate small pieces of paper, very light and twisted, used to roll a lock of hair to curl or ringlet it.

The manufacturing secrets of our chocolate and praline papillotes

At À la Mère de Famille, we carefully select noble ingredients that give precious aromas to each product. We select whole French hazelnuts, or savory almonds to make, from start to finish, our inimitable homemade pralines, where a hint of the sweetness of caramel appears, without forgetting a touch of butter for creaminess. We obtain these subtle flavors thanks to the roasting of the fruits, their caramelization, and then their cold grinding, as is no longer done elsewhere, which is essential to obtain very high-quality praline.

Our chocolatiers make our own dark chocolate and milk chocolate coatings , with a unique blend of noble cacaos with specific aromatic profiles, in order to obtain inimitable notes. They add a natural emulsifier that gives the chocolate even more fluidity. Processing the cacao, cold praline preparation: they perpetuate traditional know-how that requires as much expertise as passion.

Discover the aromas of our chocolate bars

Truffle or chocolate papillote: the game of differences

We are sometimes asked in our A la Mère de Famille boutiques about the difference between chocolate truffles and chocolate papillotes. These two recipes have (almost) nothing to do with each other, except perhaps the contrast between a melting heart and a crunchy coating. Chocolate papillotes are filled with praline , made with a blend of caramelized dried fruits, and according to recipes with crêpe dentelle shards. They are slipped in assortment and in a joyful loose form in a pouch to vary the pleasures. Truffles, on the other hand, contain beneath their cocoa powder veil, ganache, a paste heart made of chocolate, cream, and a touch of fresh butter that brings dairy notes. They are rather enjoyed by picking them out of a cardboard box or a beautiful metal box, according to your choice.

Yum, did you say chocolate truffles ?

These two creations share the same seasonality, however: they are enjoyed once winter arrives. Truffles and papillotes are delicious Christmas chocolates, which are shared during holiday meals... and for no reason if your sweet tooth tells you so! They are preferably stored outside the refrigerator, in a cool, dry place, and enjoyed quickly to preserve all their aromas.