Creamy Pecan Pralines
Many years ago I went to New Orleans with a tour made up of much older couples. I spent a lot of time wandering alone by myself and discovered marcasite jewellery (made from pyrite and silver), Cajun and Creole food and beignets. Is it surprising that my discoveries were mostly food based?
I think not.
Some of the marcasite jewellery I now own (sadly tarnished) including a dragonfly pin/pendant that was a present from my nephew, and a pin and choker that I picked up at an antique show that I used to attend, before I became a home owner.
Along with seeing the sights, our group spent the afternoon at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter where we watched a number of dishes being prepared. They included gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and pralines. All of which we got to sample. I've made some version of all of these dishes in the intervening years.
ETA: I've replaced the praline pictures with more typical ones from the second batch. :)
Creamy pecan pralines
Pralines are both one of the easiest and one of the hardest candies that I've ever made.
The easy part: The ingredients are things you can easily find and it takes about 15 minutes to measure them out and get the mixture to the boil. Cooking them to the soft ball stage takes a short time, 5-7 minutes, I estimate.
The hard part: Getting two pralines of the same size and a roughly round shape. And then there's the 'wastage' in the pan you've made them in. The mixture hardens and gets granular and if you try to scrape it off the pan, well, you get a mess of grainy lumps that taste delicious so you'll be tempted to gather them up and stuff them into your mouth.
I don't know how long it's been since I made them but I just finished a batch and all the problems I ran into made me remember WHY that was. I need to make them again incorporating all the modifications necessary to the recipe I'm using which is one of Emeril Lagasse's. In the meantime, SOMEBODY has to eat these (delicious) monstrosities.
Creamy Pecan Pralines - makes 10-12 individual pralines
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2-1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Put a trivet next to the pan so that you can put your hot saucepan on it. Make sure you've got two tablespoons (rubbed with vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter or cooking spray) next to the pan so you can spoon up the hot mixture with one and use the second to scrape the mixture onto the pan.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, heavy cream, butter, and water.
Place over a medium-high heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the praline mixture reaches the softball stage, 238 to 240 degrees F.
Add the pecans to the candy, and pull the pan off the stove. Add the vanilla extract, if using. Continue to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon until the it cools, and the pecans remain suspended in the mixture, about 2 minutes. Use a timer as you don't want to overdo your stirring/cooling of the mixture.
Spoon the mixture out onto the sheet pan leaving an inch or two between 'puddles' and let cool completely before lifting the patties up off the foil.
NOTES: You can leave out the nuts, or substitute them with almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts or puffed rice (ie Rice Krispies) or stir 1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips into the mixture.
I think not.
Some of the marcasite jewellery I now own (sadly tarnished) including a dragonfly pin/pendant that was a present from my nephew, and a pin and choker that I picked up at an antique show that I used to attend, before I became a home owner.
Along with seeing the sights, our group spent the afternoon at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter where we watched a number of dishes being prepared. They included gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and pralines. All of which we got to sample. I've made some version of all of these dishes in the intervening years.
ETA: I've replaced the praline pictures with more typical ones from the second batch. :)
Creamy pecan pralines
Pralines are both one of the easiest and one of the hardest candies that I've ever made.
The easy part: The ingredients are things you can easily find and it takes about 15 minutes to measure them out and get the mixture to the boil. Cooking them to the soft ball stage takes a short time, 5-7 minutes, I estimate.
The hard part: Getting two pralines of the same size and a roughly round shape. And then there's the 'wastage' in the pan you've made them in. The mixture hardens and gets granular and if you try to scrape it off the pan, well, you get a mess of grainy lumps that taste delicious so you'll be tempted to gather them up and stuff them into your mouth.
I don't know how long it's been since I made them but I just finished a batch and all the problems I ran into made me remember WHY that was. I need to make them again incorporating all the modifications necessary to the recipe I'm using which is one of Emeril Lagasse's. In the meantime, SOMEBODY has to eat these (delicious) monstrosities.
Creamy Pecan Pralines - makes 10-12 individual pralines
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2-1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Put a trivet next to the pan so that you can put your hot saucepan on it. Make sure you've got two tablespoons (rubbed with vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter or cooking spray) next to the pan so you can spoon up the hot mixture with one and use the second to scrape the mixture onto the pan.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, heavy cream, butter, and water.
Place over a medium-high heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the praline mixture reaches the softball stage, 238 to 240 degrees F.
Add the pecans to the candy, and pull the pan off the stove. Add the vanilla extract, if using. Continue to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon until the it cools, and the pecans remain suspended in the mixture, about 2 minutes. Use a timer as you don't want to overdo your stirring/cooling of the mixture.
Spoon the mixture out onto the sheet pan leaving an inch or two between 'puddles' and let cool completely before lifting the patties up off the foil.
NOTES: You can leave out the nuts, or substitute them with almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts or puffed rice (ie Rice Krispies) or stir 1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips into the mixture.