Wills New Orleans Style Pralines 2 cups white granulated sugar 2 cups light brown sugar 1 stick of real butter 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (imitation fine) 2 cups pecan halves, pieces, etc. 1 cup of evaporated milk Step 1: Pour 2 cups of light brown sugar and 2 cups of white sugar into the pan. Add evaporated milk. Step 2: Turn up heat to high, and start mixing sugars and evaporated milk together. I use a sturdy plastic serving spoon to do this. Attach your candy thermometer, and keep stirring. Youre basically just trying to get all the sugar dissolved and avoid anything sticking and burning. Wait until the mixture is just above the soft ball stage (235 degrees). I usually keep it going until it gets to about 240 degrees. Step 3: Kill the heat, and add your pecans. Next add your butter. I usually break the butter up ahead of time into 4 chunks so it melts faster. Add your vanilla extract. Step 4: Move pan off burner. The goal is to cool while continuing to mix very thoroughly. It will start thickening up eventually. Step 5: At the right time (this is a judgement call), start spooning heaps of mixture onto parchment paper. I usually just roll out some parchment paper on the counter (and tape the ends down so it doesnt slide). Step 6: Let them sit about an hour to fully turn/set. NOTE: The right time is when its thick enough to hold together, but not so thick that you cannot scoop it. Its roughly 165 degrees, but yours may vary. If you scoop to soon, it is still runny and the pralines will be thin. If you wait longer, you will have nice thick pralines, but the ones toward the end of the batch will be difficult to scoop out. Remember, theres no such thing as a bad praline -- some are just prettier than others. Also, if you dont go to at least 235 degrees, they may not turn. Turning is the process of going from shiny and translucent (and sticky) to opaque and crumbly and not sticky. Good luck!
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 03:29:40 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015