Question: Pralines?

Hi --

I think that "pralines" differ somewhat according to geography. My mom adores the "Texas" style ones from her youth, which sound like the ones you're describing: texture of maple sugar candy with pecans sprinkled throughout.

I think the chewier ones come from further east.

--Beth Kevles snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Although they are shaped and look a bit like cookkies, they are candy. After the nuts, they contain two kinds of sugar and a bit of syrup -- some recipes may vary. It's sugar candy. Yes, just like those maple thingies.

The "praline" name is also used in syrups, cake frostings, etc., that may use nuts and sugars -- just representing trhe same essential taste.

In my book, they're nothing to write home about, or take home.

Now, if you buy the fudge in New Orleans, that's worth it. Of course, it's the same as fudge anywhere else in the world.

Yeah, I don't care for those crystalline things either. Though you find mostly the crystalline kind here in Houston, the one's we like are carmely and chewy with more pecans than candy. They taste like the pecans have been toasted before being added to the candy mixture because they have a wonderful pecan flavor. Sorry, I can't remember the brand.

Raj V

The term praline seems to cover a very wide variety of confections, really the only common thread being that they involve nuts cooked in sugar. In the southern USA, pralines seem to be either a hard crystalline candy with nuts in it, or a soft, semi-chewy candy used to bind large nuts. In Belgium, pralines are generally chocolates with a pastelike nut filling which can have a texture ranging anywhere from slightly grainy like fudge to super- smooth like creamy peanut butter. I've also seen the term used to describe individual nuts with a caramelised sugar coating. So I think the real answer is, the problem isn't with the candy you got as such, but rather with the term.

Thanks everyone -- now it makes sense!

-- Michelle "Of course, now I want to find some of the ones Raj is talking about"

Please, Don't Breed or Buy While Shelter Pets Die.

Pralines, as known in the southern US, come in two varieties... the firm crystalline candy and the soft and smooth variety.

The difference?

The care taken to make sure that the sugar/milk/butter mixture is not overcooked. If you cook it too long, you will end up with a more crystalline candy. Some people prefer one kind, some prefer the other. My mom makes the harder, crystalline kind... which was why I always tended to prefer my grandmother's. Turns out, my mom got her recipe from a cookbook and my grandmother received hers from her mother.

Me? I like the softer variety. I use heavy cream instead of milk to keep the mixture rich (my own variation), and I lightly roast the pecans (275 at 25) to bring out their flavor. People have gone nuts over these when I make them around Christmastime.

Recipe (from memory):

• 1.5 cups sugar * .75 cup light brown sugar, packed * .5 cup heavy cream * 2 tsp vanilla * .75 stick butter * 1.5 cups roasted pecans

Combine all ingredients and bring to soft ball stage (238-240 degrees F.. yeah, get a candy thermometer), stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir until mixture thickens, becomes cloudy, and pecans stay suspended in mixture. Place a newspaper down, and place wax paper on top. Spoon out your pralines on the wax paper.

GregoryD