Rumové pralinky (rum pralines) are an iconic sweet, their production has been discontinued after 58 years.
If you travel to the Czech Republic in the upcoming weeks, it’ll be the last chance to try rumové pralinky, a sweet that has been in production for almost six decades.
What are Rumové pralinky
They are pralines made of sugar crust covered in chocolate and filled with rum filling. When you put them in your mouth and the crust melts and you get that wonderful sweet rum aroma. Are the rum pralines really alcoholic? Well, not really. The liquid is made of sugar solution and rum aroma and a drop of rum. The rum is less than 1 % of the ingredients. It also needs to be said, that the rum used is the Czech rum which is no longer called rum due to the prohibition of the EU. It’s called Tuzemák now and it’s not made from sugar cane like the usual rum but by adding a rum aroma to alcohol.
How are they made?
The solution of water, sugar and rum (aroma) is poured into starch molds and sprinkled with starch. They are left to cure for 24 hours. After this time, the sugar crust forms and the pralines can be dipped in chocolate.
About Rumové pralinky
These famous Czech pralines were first made in 1965 in the Zora factory in Olomouc. Over the years, it was the packaging that changed more than anything. After the Velvet Revolution, rumové pralinky underwent a major “modernization” which meant the package was made smaller and later the ingredients changed – the dark chocolate was replaced with chocolate will high grease content, the rum aroma and taste in the filling became less intense and the pralines became sweeter.
We can only guess if tit was these changes that caused the decline of interest and at the end of 2023, the Swiss company Nestlé that owns the Czech Orion brand since the 1990s has announced the termination of the production of the rum pralines.
If you’d like to learn more about special Czech food and drinks, browse Easting & Drinking.
