How to Make Homemade Pralines | Quick and Easy Dessert Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What causes pralines not to harden? ›

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 (US: /ˈpreɪliːn/; New Orleans, Cajun, and UK: /ˈprɑːliːn/) are confections containing nuts – usually almonds, pecans and hazelnuts – and sugar. Cream is a common third ingredient. American pralines cooling on a marble slab. Unlike European pralines, American pralines are made with cream.

Allow the pralines to cool completely, then store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature, stored in a cool and dry place, for at least five days or longer. Pralines ship very well, so they make a good care package gift!

Avoid The Humidity

Plan to make your pralines on a cool, dry day. If it's humid or rainy, as it was the first time I made pralines, the candy might end up with a more sugary, grainy texture. While delicious, my first batch never did fully harden.

But if your pralines are still gooey after 30-40 minutes, you may have to scrape them back into the pan and heat them again. Add a tablespoon of milk, melt the sugar, and as before, stir constantly while you bring them to a boil. When the mixture begins to thicken, begin dipping them out again and cross your fingers!

Should You Refrigerate Pralines? There is no need to refrigerate pecan pralines. They will keep for about three weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

For one, pecan pralines are a patty-shaped candy made from pecans and several other ingredients, typically sugar, butter, and cream. Praline pecans, on the other hand, are individual pecan nuts with a praline-flavored coating.

A few of our customers store them for longer, so it's also based on your personal preference. The best way to store them is in an airtight container. Why are there white spots on my pralines? The white spots are a natural process called crystallization.

The second top tip to making praliné is caramel. Be careful when cooking it and pay special attention to its color. Too light and it will have no flavor but too dark and it will be bitter. Remove from the heat as soon as the caramel turns amber, as it will continue to heat in the pan afterwards.

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.

How do you stop pralines from crystallizing? ›

A little crystallization in pralines is inevitable but adding a bit of corn syrup can help keep crystals from forming. In this recipe I also butter the sides of the pot and only stir before the sugar comes to a boil. After the candy reaches soft-ball stage, it is left to cool for 10 minutes without agitation.

How Pralines Are Made | Aunt Sally's Pralines. Our famous pralines are created from a short list of quality ingredients, starring Louisiana pecans, Louisiana cane sugar, milk, and butter. The pralines are cooked by hand over open flame in large, bowl-shaped copper pots.

Just a heads up for future praline-makin', you really shouldn't double the recipe. Ever. If you wait long enough, they'll set. If, for some reason they don't, scrape all of it into a jar and you'll have delicious ice cream topping.

2) Altitude and humidity can impact your results. Higher altitudes may need to cook things a touch longer than lower altitudes. Don't try to make these if it's raining or snowing or overly humid outside–they won't set up.

Always use a heavy bottomed pot to make the pralines which will disperse heat evenly. Uneven heat distribution or fiddling too much with the temperature of the sugar can also lead to crystallization.