Authentic Southern-Style New Orleans Pralines Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why won't my pralines get hard? ›

If you don't beat it long enough, then pralines won't set properly and will stay soft and sticky. Work quickly to drop heaping tablespoons of pecan praline mixture onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

In Louisiana, especially New Orleans, the name praline applies to candies made with pecans in a coating of brown sugar sold by Creole women known as pralinières. Even before the Civil War and Emancipation, pralines were an early entrepreneurial vehicle for free women of color in New Orleans.

Powdered sugar - adding powdered sugar really makes the pralines smooth and creamy and removes any graininess of the brown sugar.

They contain no preservatives and are best consumed within a week of purchase. They never go “bad,” but after a week or so the sugar starts to crystalize and they lose the characteristic snap that you enjoy when biting them.

In hard candy making, it is important to cook all the water out of the sugar/corn syrup/water mixture. If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Pralines should be cooked to 236°F (soft ball stage) so that it is still pliable when it cools and so it maintains the smooth sandy texture typical of pralines. This is impossible to determine without a thermometer, and if you overheat the sugar, you are guaranteed to make pralines that are too firm and grainy.

Aunt Sally's Original Creole Pralines | World's Best Praline.

A praliné is a paste that is a mixture of nuts, chocolate and sugar. While in Belgium, a 'praline' is defined as a filled chocolate candy. Note that the term 'praline' is of Belgian origin.

Why are there white spots on my pralines? The white spots are a natural process called crystallization. Because our pralines are made with NO preservatives, the white spots occur over time as the cooked sugar returns to its original crystal form.

Pralines are a much-appreciated festive treat, but come to think of it, they're simply delicious at any time of the year. When your pralines turn white, you are seeing the recrystallization of sugar. And you are right that honey does technically slow down the rate at which crystals form in candy.

What causes white spots on pralines? ›

Why are there white spots on my pralines? The sugar in these pralines cystallizes slightly as it cools, sometimes leading to a white-ish bloom on the surface. While they can look imperfect, the white spots in no way affect the texture or flavor of the candy.

Pecan pralines last up to three weeks. So it is better to consume the pecan pralines in the first two to three weeks after you make them. After three weeks, the pralines will not go bad but the sugar will begin to re-crystallize and so they will lose their delicious creaminess and will get a little harder to chew.

French settlers brought this recipe to Louisiana, where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus created what became known throughout the American South as the praline.

To freeze pralines, wrap them in aluminum foil and place them in a zipper top bag or freezer container. The pralines are still a bit delicate when frozen, so don't stack other things on top of them and make sure they're in a part of the freezer where they won't get smashed.

Hard candy is made up of sugar crystals that are held together by a small amount of water. When hard candy is exposed to humidity from the air, the surface of the candy begins to take in moisture, causing the sugar crystals to dissolve and the candy to become softer.

235° F–240° F

At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Fudge , pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage.

Sometimes, as syrup boils, sugar starts to form back into crystals, which turn hard and cloudy. Crystallisation can be caused by stirring, or a grain of something other than sugar getting into the pan, or often just bad luck.

Southern Living, in their guide for making better pecan pralines, explains that it's best to choose a cool, dry day to make your candy. If the day you've chosen is too warm and humid, you're liable to end up with crystallized sugar, giving your pecan pralines a sugary, grainy texture that's undesirable.