Belgium is famous for inventing the filled chocolate praline in 1912.
Belgian chocolatier Jean Neuhaus Jr. created the first Belgian chocolate praline in Brussels. Unlike the harder, nut-based confection called a praline in parts of France and the United States, the Belgian version is a chocolate shell containing a soft filling such as ganache, buttercream, nuts, or liqueur.
Neuhaus developed the idea after his family’s pharmacy business had already sold chocolate-covered medicines. He replaced the medicinal presentation with an elegant chocolate box and introduced the ballotin, a folded box designed to protect delicate chocolates. The ballotin became closely associated with Belgian pralines.
The term causes international confusion. In American English, “praline” often means a cooked sugar-and-pecan sweet, while in Belgium it generally means a filled chocolate. Belgian pralines are therefore a style of chocolate confection, not simply a particular flavor.