Bonbon, praline or truffle? The differences
They are three different things, though they get muddled. In short: a bonbon is the general term — a small filled piece of chocolate under a thin shell; a praline is a specific filling, made of caramelised nuts (hazelnut, almond) ground to a cream; a truffle is a bonbon whose filling is ganache — chocolate and cream — often rolled in cocoa powder.
Put another way: praline and ganache are fillings; the truffle is a type of bonbon (the ganache one); and bonbon is the family that covers them all. A maison can have praline bonbons, ganache bonbons (truffles) and fruit bonbons in the same coffret.
At a glance
| Bonbon | Praline | Truffle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The family: any small filled chocolate | A filling | A bonbon with a ganache centre |
| Made of | Any filling under a chocolate shell | Hazelnuts or almonds, caramelised and ground to a paste | Chocolate and cream (ganache) |
| Outside | A thin moulded or dipped shell | None of its own — it lives inside a bonbon or a bar | Traditionally rolled in cocoa powder |
| Texture | Depends on the filling | Nutty, smooth, sometimes crunchy | Soft, melting |
| Keeps | Depends on the filling | Longer — very little water | Shorter — the cream holds water |
Praline vs truffle: the short answer
The difference is the filling. A praline is nuts and caramelised sugar, so it tastes toasted and nutty. A truffle is ganache, chocolate and cream, so it tastes of chocolate first and melts on the tongue. Side by side in a box they can look alike; the first bite tells them apart.
Why “praline” means three different things
Much of the confusion comes from geography. In France and Portugal, praliné is the nut paste described above, and a praline is a whole almond coated in caramelised sugar. In Belgium, “praline” is the everyday word for any filled chocolate, a usage that goes back to the filled chocolates Jean Neuhaus made in Brussels in 1912, so a Belgian box of pralines is a box of bonbons. And in the American South, above all New Orleans, a praline is a soft sweet of pecans, sugar and cream, with no chocolate at all.
Where does a truffle end and a bonbon begin?
A classic truffle is a ball of ganache, a little irregular and dusted with cocoa, named for its resemblance to the truffle mushroom. In everyday speech many people call any ganache bonbon a truffle; strictly speaking, when the same ganache is piped into a thin, glossy moulded shell, most chocolatiers call it a ganache bonbon. Our Raspberry Diamond, fresh-raspberry ganache in a faceted shell, is exactly that. And some bonbons are neither praline nor ganache: Obsidian Pearl and Amber Noir hold a soft caramel.
How to tell them apart when tasting
- Look. Cocoa-dusted and irregular points to a truffle; a glossy shell with clean edges points to a moulded bonbon.
- Bite. A praline tastes of toasted nuts, with a fine grain or a crunch; a ganache is cool, smooth and chocolate-forward.
- Temperature. Taste at room temperature, never straight from the fridge: cold hides the difference. More on that in how to store fine chocolate.
At Delicious Diamonds, each piece is hand-painted and hand-filled. What changes from bonbon to bonbon is not only the filling — it is the cacao origin, the texture, the point of sweetness. Tasting several is the best way to feel the difference.
