# Pralines: What did I do wrong?



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I tried to make my MIL's praline but it was a total failure. The recipe says to bring the candy up to the 2" thread stage then to add butter and pecans. After that I am supposed to cool it until it forms a soft ball. After that it says to cool and stir until glossy. 

The problem is that the thread stage is from 215 to 234 degrees and the soft ball stage is from 234 to 240 degrees. How does something cool to a higher temperature?

The stupid stuff granulated so it tastes and looks like pecans in a bunch of brown sugar. What did I do wrong and how can I fix it so it doesn't happen next time?


----------



## bugstabber (May 12, 2002)

I don't know, but save that stuff to put on ice cream!


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Which type of pralines were you shooting for? The gooey kind, the crisp kind, or the sugary kind?


----------



## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

I was thinking the same thing. could I ever eat that with a blob of cream on top. I don't know pralines. ~Georgia.


----------



## MushCreek (Jan 7, 2008)

I just made some, and almost all of the recipes said 240 degrees. Then you cool them briefly, and start making pralines- quick! Mine were fine, although ugly.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Mush, to what temperature did they cool? Alice, I was just shooting for smooth tasty ones that didn't crystalize.


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I think I found the answer ( or part of it ):

http://thebakemore.blogspot.com/2009/08/pralines.html


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Here's a recipe for pralines made in the microwave. I make my pecan brittle that way!

http://theundauntedbaker.blogspot.com/2007/12/as-god-is-my-witness.html


----------



## MushCreek (Jan 7, 2008)

I didn't monitor the temperature after I took it off the heat. I added the butter, pecans, and vanilla, and kept stirring until it started to feel gritty. Many instructions say until 'the pot starts talking', meaning you hear the grittiness. This only took a couple minutes, and it solidifies very fast.


----------



## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

Folks have given the answers for the next try. 
In between, if it were me, I'd toss your pecan sugar stuff into a food processor and make it into heavenly 'sand' which could then be added to many items - coffee cake toppings, dusted on ice cream, even stirred into bread dough similar to cinnamon rolls. Rats, now I'm thinking about how to make pralines and get it wrong on purpose. lol


----------



## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Joshie said:


> I tried to make my MIL's praline but it was a total failure. The recipe says to bring the candy up to the 2" thread stage then to add butter and pecans. *After that I am supposed to cool it until it forms a soft ball.* After that it says to cool and stir until glossy.
> 
> The problem is that the thread stage is from 215 to 234 degrees and the soft ball stage is from 234 to 240 degrees. How does something cool to a higher temperature?
> 
> The stupid stuff granulated so it tastes and looks like pecans in a bunch of brown sugar. What did I do wrong and how can I fix it so it doesn't happen next time?


I may be wrong, but I don't read this as forming a soft ball *stage*, but the whole mess forming a ball -- ie. remaining together in a mass. I've only made pralines once, and if I remember, as soon as it began to cool, I had to spoon it out quickly. The first ones were fine, but the last of the batch were gritty. So maybe you stirred too long? At any rate, they will still taste great, gritty or not.


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

My pralines started getting grainy just about as soon as I added the butter and pecans and started stirring. I read somewhere that Alton Brown said that if a grain of sugar remains even on the side melted sugar can granulize. He also said that adding a bit of corn syrup can help prevent crystallization. 

I want to try again but hate to waste the pecans. They are so expensive. Do you think it'd work OK if I put pecans down then pour tablespoons over them? I just wouldn't add the pecans if the caramely stuff if it is grainy. 

Belfry, you may be exactly right about the cooling to a soft ball. Alice, my pralines went from looking good to looking dry and grainy just like those in your link. Mush, my recipe didn't call for vanilla. I think everything tastes better with vanilla. What do you think about adding a teaspoon to one cup of both brown and white sugars?

OK, now this is a challenge I want to get right.


----------

