Georgia Quealy: Praliné Chocolatiers
Part of our series of articles on businesses led by female entrepreneurs.
Praliné Chocolatiers is a new business venture from Roscrea woman Georgia Quealy, who has been living in Athlone for a number of years. Having met her boyfriend Daniel Linehan while studying culinary arts in Athlone IT, the two have decided to put their skills and experiences together in creating handmade chocolates.
“We always had an interest in pastry and chocolates and we knew we wanted to get into that area eventually,” Georgia explains.
“So we took a leap of faith and just decided to go for it back in October. With Covid, we were in limbo and decided that there was no point in waiting until things settled down. It sounds like a risky move, but the support locally from other businesses and the public has been amazing.”
They originally started selling their chocolates through Instagram, but have recently set up a website to expand their capabilities.
We had planned to initially sell to friends and family and get some feedback from them, but it really blew up before Christmas and it’s been going great ever since. We were lucky to be at the Christmas markets in Athlone, and that was a great way to get our name out there.”
Having graduated from Athlone IT in 2016, both Georgia and Daniel have several years of experience working with the top chefs in Ireland, and draw inspiration from them in creating their chocolates.
“We have both worked in The Villager in Glasson with Cathal Moran, in Thyme Restaurant with John Coffey, and with Garrett Byrne in One Michelin Star restaurant Campagne in Kilkenny.”
The pair have also attended courses in Barcelona with Vincent Vallée, the world chocolate master for 2015, while last year Daniel attended the Amaury Guichon pastry academy in Las Vegas.
Taking all of those experiences along the way, they have come up with their own unique style with classical training and a modern touch.
The fillings available range from Salted Caramel Bonbon, with luscious caramel made using Oriel sea salt from Louth, to Blackberry and Vanilla, made using crème de mûre from berries picked in Athlone. Georgia and Daniel also love experimenting with textures, with their Lemon Meringue Pie Bonbon from their spring collection, which is made up of three layers of vanilla meringue, lemon ganache and a biscuit base.
“From start to finish it takes three days to make the handmade chocolates. There are a lot of steps involved, and each of the steps are vital to get the finished product. If you miss out on one of them, the product simply won’t turn out correctly, and we always like the outside of the chocolate to represent what the flavour on the inside is.
“We spend hours making them. We polish the moulds to get the nice shine on the chocolates, we use the finest ingredients – locally where possible – and make our own fillings.”
Looking to the future, Georgia hopes that getting their own unit is on the cards, with the reopening of hospitality in the coming months also bringing with it new opportunities.
A new Easter egg lined with crunchy caramel praliné and filled with truffles is available on their website now. After the success of their recent limited edition Valentine’s Day box, there are also plans to release more in the future for various occasions.
Praliné Chocolatiers and their products can be found at www.pralinechocolatiers.com