It's time to practice your best southern drawl. You may wish to embody Paula Dean, but this recipe actually stems from the Taste of Home Cookbook (p 578) given to me by my Mom-a-la, Cindy. I had a hankering for these and an excess of pecans so I gave them a try.
I love to experiment in the kitchen and try new things. I'm not afraid of spending hours cooking, as long as it's on a weekend (and as long as my wonderful hubby will both sample and help clean up, which he always does). Luckily, these don't take hours to prepare and received rave reviews. They literally melt in your mouth and have a lovely carmel flavor.
First things first, Mise en place:
You will need the following ingredients:
3 C packed Brown Sugar
(I used a combination of light and dark as I was running out of light)
1 C Heavy Whipping Cream
2 T Light Corn Syrup
1/4 t Salt
You'll combine the above and add the below as it cools.
1/4 C Butter (cut into little pats)
1 & 1/4 t Vanilla Extract (or other flavor of choice like coffee, rum, etc)
2 C chopped Pecans (or whatever nut you dig)
Prepare your cooling area. I used Silipads or Silicone mats so I didn't need additional lubricant. You could use a buttered baking sheet or parchment paper. I don't recommend wax paper (though Taste of Home book uses it) as hot things tend to melt and then absorb the flavor of wax. Not tasty.
As you're going to be cooking over some high heat you want a really heavy bottomed pan. One that is large enough to accept the growth of the boiling sugars. So larger than you think you need, but it's more about the height of the sides than the width of the pot.
Some folks use their eye to judge when the sugar is the right temperature. Some use the drop of lava in water method to determine if the candy has reached the soft-ball stage. I use a handy dandy thermometer and take the culinary napalm off the heat when the temp has reached 234 degrees F. You can stir occasionally if you like to fuss over your cooking. I used a silicone coated wisk when I was getting the first group of ingredients incorporated. After the sugars start to boil, I'm not so sure stirring is needed as the boil is quite aggressive.
So, you've reached 234 degrees F and can take the pot off the heat. Drop in the butter, but don't stir. Just let it melt and allow the temperature to drop to 150 degrees F. At that temperature the liquid is still dangerous, so be careful not to get any on your skin. Thankfully it is water soluable, so don't worry too much if there are drips on the counter at the moment... It will take about 35 minutes to cool.
Stir in the vanilla and the Pecans and stir with your favorite wooden spoon. Why wood? Because wood has an amazing quality which allows it to absorb amazing amounts of heat, but not return it to the sugar. This helps the candy to cool. You're looking to stir for about 5 - 7 minutes.
The instructions said you still want the product to be glossy. This I found to be an awkward instruction as the product starts out glossy, so it doesn't really tell me when to stop. I may have stopped stirring too early, but the pralines I dipped first just took longer to set. They all turned out, so just stir until you are really really tired of stirring and the sugar is still shiny. If it starts to fog or become dull, it will be harder to dip and you may end up with waste.
Use a small cookie scoop to portion out the candy, making sure you get a fair amount of the nuts in each praline. They will spread a little so leave about an inch of space between each praline.
Let stand until set. You'll know when they are done as they will easily peel off the parchment. They will have also become cloudy and opaque. In my experiment the last ones dipped finished first. I think it was the additional stirring from scooping them out of the pan. The first ones took practically overnight to set up which makes me think I whimped out and didn't stir as long as needed. However, with patience they were delicious.
I shared them with my co-workers and Tim who all remarked that they melt in your mouth. They are meant to be eaten slow and enjoyed. With a nice hot mug of coffee I think they would be glorious.
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