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

FAQs

What is praline main ingredient? ›

praline, in French confectionery, a cooked mixture of sugar, nuts, and vanilla, often ground to a paste for use as a pastry or candy filling, analogous to marzipan; also, a sugar-coated almond or other nutmeat.

If you beat too long, the candy will seize and start to crumble. If you don't beat it long enough, then pralines won't set properly and will stay soft and sticky.

Pralines will keep well for 1 or 2 weeks at room temperature. After that, the sugar will begin to crystallize and the candy will get harder and gritty. To ensure they stay fresh, proper storage is key. Pack them in an airtight container as soon as the candy hardens and use parchment or wax paper to separate layers.

The difference between a praline and praliné? 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.

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.

sometimes I have no idea why they won't 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.

Recipe tips & tricks

(I have been there!) Are your pralines gritty? This means the sugars crystalized before you added your pecans to the saucepan. A great way to avoid this is to listen for the “pot to talk” – which means you should be stirring until you hear tiny sugar crystals on the side of the pot.

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.

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.

Why do my pralines have white spots? ›

Why are there white spots on my pralines? The white spots are a natural process called crystallization.

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.

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.

Praline pecans are also a healthy addition as pecans contain vitamins and minerals, and are also free from cholesterol so you can much on them without worry.

Other terms for pralines include pecan pralines, pecan candy, plarines and pecan patties, to name a few. Modern day New Orleans pecan pralines are not very different than the ones made one hundred years ago.

There are two main types: French pralines, a firm combination of almonds and caramelized sugar. American pralines, a softer, creamier combination of syrup and pecans, hazelnuts or almonds with milk or cream, resembling fudge.

American pralines often include pecans as the nut of choice, which might explain why some people think of them as being similar in flavor to that other favorite Southern classic — butter pecan ice cream.

Praline filling typically refers to a sweet filling made from ground caramelized nuts (often almonds or hazelnuts), sugar, and cream, that is commonly used in confectionery such as chocolates and pastries. The resulting mixture is smooth, creamy, and nutty in flavor.

In Belgium and France, praline is a smooth paste of cocoa blended with finely ground nuts and used to fill chocolate bon-bons, but when it came to New Orleans it took another road. It is believed that pralines were brought over from France by the Ursuline nuns, who came to New Orleans in 1727.