NEW ORLEANS PRALINE PIECES

facebook share image   twitter share image   pinterest share image   E-Mail share image



New Orleans Praline Pieces image

When making candy it's important to have all your equipment meticulously clean, because even the slightest trace of oil can adversely affect texture. Watch carefully for visual cues to doneness, using our cooking times merely as guidelines. And it is essential to do the soft-ball test (see below), as well as taking the temperature of the syrup, since some thermometers can actually be off by a few degrees.

Categories     Candy     Milk/Cream     Nut     Dessert     Mardi Gras     Pecan     Edible Gift     Candy Thermometer     Gourmet     Kidney Friendly     Vegetarian     Pescatarian     Wheat/Gluten-Free     Peanut Free     Soy Free     Kosher

Yield Makes 18 (2-inch) confections

Number Of Ingredients 7

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/4 cups pecan pieces (5 ounces), toasted
Special Equipment
a candy thermometer with a clamp

Steps:

  • Butter a 9-inch square metal baking pan.
  • Sift granulated sugar through a sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps or large crystals, then rub brown sugar through sieve into bowl. Pour sugars into a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan, being careful not to get sugar on side of pan.
  • Add cream, butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook over very low heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and washing down any sugar crystals on side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water, until sugar is dissolved (do not let simmer), 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Clamp on candy thermometer, then boil syrup over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until it registers 236°F and a teaspoon of syrup dropped into a small bowl of cold water holds a very soft ball when pressed between your fingers, 3 to 6 minutes.
  • Remove pan from heat, leaving thermometer in place, and cool, undisturbed, until syrup registers 220°F, 1 to 3 minutes. Stir syrup with cleaned and dried wooden spoon until thickened and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes, then immediately stir in pecans. Working very fast (syrup hardens quickly), pour into baking pan, scraping sides of saucepan with wooden spoon.
  • Let mixture harden at room temperature, about 45 minutes. Cut and break into pieces.

There are no comments yet!