Welcome back to Kathey Jo’s Kitchen! The praline is a Southern tradition. You create it with sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, and pecans. The praline was traced back to Chef Clement Lassagne, who worked for César duc de Choiseul, Comte du Plessis-Praslin around the 17th century.

Chef Lassagne’s original praline recipe brought together almonds bound by a caramelized coating. He named it for his employer, the praslin. Through the centuries in Europe, the Southern praline eventually evolved from the praslin. In France and Belgium, the recipe often features ground nuts and cocoa, instead of a halved nut.

The pralines of today’s SSouth came through New Orleans via Ursuline nuns. These French nuns taught their young charges the domestic arts, which included cooking and baking...

May 1^st is National Chocolate Parfait Day, and I can’t think of a more delicious reason to celebrate! My name is Kathey Raskin, and I’d like to welcome you to my Las Vegas kitchen to learn how to whip up this easy dessert. A traditional parfait has a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream, but you can make an easy version using ice cream, gelatins, instant pudding, whipped cream, or any other number of simple ingredients. You can also make healthy versions of this treat using fresh fruit, but we’re not here for that today, LOL!

Once you’ve tried my Ultimate Easy Chocolate Parfait recipe, you’ll understand why they chose to name this dessert after the word “perfect” in French. It really is perfection!

Ingredients

1 package instant chocolate pudding

2 cups full-fat milk

1 8 o...