Pralines, por favor?

[marmalady]

Lemme go peruse my Charleston cookbooks, Audeo - I'm sure I can find something!

[Audeo]

Whew! Charleston Girl is coming to my rescue!

Thanks, marmalady! I'd love to compare!

[marmalady]

Okay - this is from 'Party Receipts'; the newest cookbook put out by the Charleston Junior League; some of you may know their first one, which has been out forever, and is a staple here in kitchens! "Charleston Receipts"

Party Pralines

Yield - about 40 pralines

2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light cream
1tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups chopped pecans

In a large saucepan, combine the sugars, cream and corn syrup; bring to a boil and continue cooking til mixture reaches soft ball stage, 238F on a candy thermometer.

Remove pan from heat, add butter, vanilla, and pecans. Beat the mixture to cool (to speed the process, place the pan in a bowl of ice water).

Drop in heaping teaspoons onto waxed paper; if the mixture hardens too fast, reheat it and add some extra cream to soften it.

[mudbug]

In some ways I am a traitor to my people. Don't like pralines at all and cannot bring myself to suck dem heads.

Here's a praline recipe anyway. Only makes 12, so if you like them, double (or triple) the ingredients below. Audeo and other experts, I have no idea as to whether temps below are correct or not - just typing it as I read it.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup breakfast cream (no clue how "breakfast cream" is diff from other types)
2 tablespoons butter

Dissolve sugar in cream and boil to the thread test (228F), stir occasionally. Add butter and pecans, cook until syrup reaches soft ball test (236F) and cool. Beat until thickened but not until it loses its gloss and drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased marble slab or double thickness of waxed paper. The candy will flatten out into large cakes.

[crewsk]

I wish I had a scanner so you could see this picture I'm looking at!! This is from my Southern Living 20th Edition Annuual Recipes Cookbook. I have not made any of these but this may be the year for me to try them!

Basic Pralines

Vegetable cooking spray
1 1/2C. sugar
3/4C. packed brown sugar
1/4C. plus 2Tbsp. butter
1/2C. milk
1 1/2C. chopped pecans

Lightly coat a few sheets of wax paper with cooking spray & set aside.

Combine 1 1/2C. sugar & remaining ingredients in a heavy 3 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 220F.(You may need to lower the heat with a thinner saucepan, & rely on a candy thermometer instead of a timer.)

Remove from heat, & beat with a wooden spoon 4 to 6 minutes or just until mixture begins to thicken. Working rapidly, drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared wax paper; let stand until firm. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen.

Variations:

Orange Pralines: Add 2 1/2 to 3 Tbsp. Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur before cooking.

Cafe au Lait Pralines: Add 1 1/2Tbsp. instant coffee granules before cooking.

Mocha Pralines: Add 1 1/2 to 2Tbsp instant coffee granules & 1/2C. simi-sweet chocolate morsels before cooking.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pralines: Add 1/C, simi-sweet chocolate morsels & 1/4C. creamy peanut butter before cooking.

Peanut Butter Pralines: Add 2Tbsp. creamy peanut butter brfore cooking & stir 1tsp. vanilla into cooked mixture before beating.

Chocolat-Mint Pralines: Add 5(1/2 ounce)chocolate covered peppermint patties before cooking.

Hot Spicy Pralines: Add 1/2tsp. ground red pepper before cooking.

Bourbon Pralines: Add 3Tbsp. bourbon before cooking.

Chocolate pralines: Add 2(1 ounce)squares unsweetened chocolate before cooking.

Vanilla Pralines: Stir 1tsp. vanilla extraact into cooked mixture before beating.

Joe Cahn
New Orleans School of Cooking &
General Store in Jax Brewery
New Orleans, Louisiana

[Audeo]

Nifty, nifty, nifty!
Neat, neat, neat!
The goodies this year...
Are going to be sweet, sweet, sweet!!