Feb 18: Pralines

Pralines are a very popular candy in the South, especially in New Orleans. Pralines (pronounced Pra-leens) looks like a round patty with pecans. The consistency is soft and creamy with a little grittiness from sugar crystals.

I've taken a recipe from "From Woodstoves to Microwaves... Cooking with Entergy." Entergy is the local power company and the cook book was sold through my employers with the proceeds going to local charities.

The original recipes is made on the stove top, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time making the candy so I'm trying the recipe in the microwave. Also, I made a half recipe.

Microwave Pralines
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Cream
1 T Butter
1/2 C Pecan Halves

Note: The recipe called for breakfast cream. I'm not sure what that is so I used heavy cream.


Heat the sugar and cream for 3 minutes in a microwave. I have a 1,200 W microwave.
I can tell by the thick caramel consistency that I went a little too far in the microwave. However, I kept on.


Added the butter and stirred in the pecans. Microwaved for about 30 seconds.


Darn... the syrup is crystallizing.
I quickly scooped out the mixture to make rounds... However, the pralines crystallized instead of being soft and creamy.


The flavor is is like a buttery toffee. I need to work on the consistency.
Total time to make the candy was 5 minutes.

Notes for next time when using the microwave oven.
1. Add a little corn syrup. The syrup should reduce the odds of crystallization.
2. Heat only for 2 minutes... maybe 2 1/2 minutes.

The stove top recipe.
Pralines
1 C Brown Sugar
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Breakfast Cream
2 T Butter
1 C Pecan halves

1. Boil the sugars and cream to 228F while stirring occasionally.
2. Add the butter and pecans. Cook to 236F.
3. Cool... Beat until slightly thickened but still glossy.
4. Drop onto wax paper or parchment paper... allow to cool completely.

BTW... Pecans is pronounced as P-Cons, not P-Cans. A coworker told us Yankees that "P-cons are for eating and P-cans are used by truckers."

Nov 26: Pecan Pie for Turkey Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving where we gather with friends and family to share thanks and eat!

The lore of Thanksgiving goes back to the colonist in Plymouth... starving and suffering from a poor harvest, the colonist were on the verge of a famine. Thankfully, the local Native American tribe came to the rescue with food. Everyone feasted! This is what we learned in elementary school...

I've been wanting to try Golden Syrup and I found a bottle at the local supermarket. Golden Syrup is an inverted sugar, similar to corn syrup, but with more flavor than corn syrup. The golden syrup has a light caramel flavor.

The Golden Syrup came with a Pecan Pie recipe... A famous pecan pie recipe!
[Ref: http://www.lylesgoldensyrup.com/LylesGoldenSyrup/default_us.htm]
Of course, I have to give it a try!



Pecan Pie
1 (9-inch) pie shell [I used a Pillsbury premade pie crust]
1 1/2 cup pecans
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the sugar, egg yolks, golden syrup, butter, cream and salt into a sauce pan.
Heat on low to medium-low, stirring to combine.
Heat mixture to 160 F. When the color is uniform and slightly thickens...
Pour mixture through a strainer into a bowl.
Mix in vanilla.


Pre-bake the crust.
Unroll the crust and fit into a pie pan.


Dock (prick) the crust with a fork to prevent puffing.
Optional: Fancy up the edges for a better appearance.


Allow the crust to cool.
When cool arrange the pecans.


Pour the strained syrup mixture over the pecans, making sure the pecans are coated.
I also added more pecans by hand


Bake 350F for 20 minutes.


This will be the contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
It looks good... Hopefully it will taste good too.