Without a doubt, the most widely favored home made candy in south Louisiana has got to be pralines. I have found that there are two varieties: Cajun and Creole. The Cajun kind is more sugary-crystalliny-crumbly while the Creole type is more creamy. Both contain pecans. The variations available between the two, however, differ greatly. I have seen a chocolate version of the Cajun kind, and that’s about it. The Creole type, containing extract of some kind, can vary widely in flavor. My particular favorite is the rum-flavored. The buttery-rummy-creamy flavor of the ones I make are to die for. And they taste just like the ones from Aunt Sally’s in New Orleans. But that’s MY thing. You might want orange extract in yours. Or chocolate. Or just vanilla. Whatever blows your skirt up is what goes in your kitchen.
I’m about to make a whole slew of ’em to send up to Michigan to a friend of my dad’s that he served with in Vietnam. This group of guys (199th, Co. A/5/12–the Redcatchers) have been in constant contact thanks to the internet and they reunite every Memorial Day weekend in Washington D.C. and in Fort Benning, Georgia, where they did basic training, every fifth year. This year, daddy happened to send his friend B.J. some highly spiced pecans from some company in Lafayette. They were a little too spicy for B.J., so daddy asked me to make him some regular pralines to send up to him to “cool him off.” LOL
A note before you start making pralines (or any other kind of candy): It would be wise to check the weather and make sure that the atmospheric pressure is at least 30 mB or higher. Lower pressure makes for much slower evaporation of water in your syrup and high humidity makes for faster breakdown of sugars and can’t evaporate any more moisture–making it fall apart and not able to “set” as it cools. You ever see your grandmother making pralines in summertime? Me neither. That was always reserved for cool, crisp, dry days of fall and winter. Maw Maw is slicker than you think, bruh.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. butter (Here we go again. I said butter.)
3 cups pecan halves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum (or whatever other flavor) extract
1 cup evaporate milk
1/2 cup whole milk
Mix sugars, salt, and milks in a large saucepan with a thick bottom. I use my Magnelite 5 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Using a candy thermometer, when the temperature reaches 228 degrees exactly, stir in butter and pecans and cook (stirring the whole time) to 236 degrees. Add the extracts and beat the hell out of it with a whisk or a wooden spoon (wooden spoons are preferable) until it coats the pecans, but still remains glossy. Drop the mixture, 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, onto greased aluminum foil, a slab of confectioner’s marble, or wax paper laid out on a cool surface. Allow to completely cool before serving. Also makes for a delicious cake coating in lieu of frosting. (Make a bundt cake, completely cool, place in the fridge for an hour or so, and then drizzle this stuff on it. Yummo!)