Pralines

Today is a river day, so we had a morning lecture on the Civil War on the Mississippi...and this afternoon we had an excellent cooking class. We learned how easy it is to make pralines. Sadly, I ate my praline before I took a picture of it--so I stole the picture below. It tasted DELICIOUS. Here's the American Seranade recipe for Louisiana Pralines

2 cups of granulated sugar;

1 cup of packed light brown sugar; 

1 cup heavy cream;

1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces; 

2 cups pecan halves; 1 teaspoon vanilla; Pinch of salt.

Courtesy of Spruce Eats

 You will need a heavy saucepan, candy thermometer, spoon (wooden or otherwise), baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon mat, and measuring cups and spoons

 Directions: 

1-prepare all ingredients and equipment before you start cooking, as the process moves quickly 

2-in saucepan, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring with the spoon until the mixture comes to a boil 

3-continue cooking the mixture, stirring with the spoon until it reaches 240 degrees F 

4-Once the mixture reaches 240 degrees, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the pecans, vanilla and salt 

5-continue stirring the mixture vigorously until it thickens and starts to lose its shine 

6-quickly drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the parchment/silicon lined baking sheet. Let the pralines cool and harden at room temperature 

7-Once the pralines have set, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They can also be refrigerated or frozen. Our cook did not say how long they could be frozen, but she said they would last 7 days in an airtight container. (In my house, they would gone much sooner than 7 days!)