Jim Coleman: A primer on pralines

Q: I have just come back from New Orleans, where I had the best piece of candy in my life - a praline.

Are they hard to make? The ones I had were very soft, and they contained pecans.

Can you please send me a recipe for easy pralines? By the way, I really love your radio and TV shows.

- Connie S.

A: Connie you obviously have good taste, both in candy and entertainment. How can I refuse to help you?

Connie you obviously have good taste, both in candy and entertainment. How can I refuse to help you?

Pralines are a confection with a storied past.

Most accounts of their origin revolve around a French manor house called Chateau de Vaux-Le Vicomte and a gentleman named Marechal du Plessis-Praslin. Praslin, whose resume listed stints as a soldier, diplomat and sugar industrialist, had his chef create a sugar-coated nut candy as a calling card to women he admired.

Originally, pralines were made with the nut most prevalent in France - the almond. Over there, the word praline (from the name Praslin) still refers to any candy made with nuts.

The candy gained a more distinct personality when the recipe arrived with French colonists in Louisiana.

Almonds were scarce in the Deep South, but the area was loaded with pecans. And when Louisiana Creoles got their hands on the recipe, they contributed their own touch by adding a bit of milk or cream.

The rest is sweet history.

Pralines are not hard to make, but there is one part that's kind of tricky: when to remove your pot from the heat.

What to look for here is something called the "soft ball stage," which is what candy forms when it reaches a cooking temperature between 234 and 240 degrees.

There are two ways to determine whether your candy has reached this temperature. The easiest and safest way is to use a candy thermometer. The second way, if you don't have a candy thermometer, is to practice. After a few batches, you will be able to tell when your candy is done.

When you think the cooking syrup is ready, drop a small amount of it into chilled water. The syrup should form into a ball, but flatten when you pick it up with your fingers.

Just be careful and don't burn your fingers. I don't want you heckling my shows! *

Chef Jim Coleman, corporate chef at Normandy Farm and Blue Bell Country Club, is the author of three cookbooks and is the host of two nationally syndicated cooking shows – "A Chef's Table" on WHYY (91-FM) at noon Saturdays and "Flavors of America," on Channel 12 at 1 p.m. Saturdays and CN8 Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

½ cup cream

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups chopped pecans

Generously butter two baking sheets. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, white sugar and cream. Bring to a rapid boil and stir until mixture forms a syrup. Stir in the butter and pecans. Continue to cook and stir for a couple of minutes until large bubbles form on the surface, the pecans begin to look sugary and the mixture changes color.

Remove from heat and drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared sheets. Let cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen candies.

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups pecans

2 tablespoons butter

Mix together buttermilk, sugar and baking soda in a large pot on medium-high heat. Stirring constantly, allow the mixture to reach a "soft ball stage" (see column).

The color should be a darker light brown.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, pecans and butter, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes glossy.

Drop rounded spoonfuls onto sheets of wax paper and allow to cool.

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

¾ cup half-and-half

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups chopped pecans

Spray the sides of a heavy saucepan (2-quart size) with non-stick spray. Add sugars and half-and-half to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Raise heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.

Reduce heat and continue cooking to soft-ball stage, or about 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

Add butter and vanilla, but do not stir. Cool for 5 minutes, then stir in nuts. Beat with wooden spoon until candy is no longer glossy and it has thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Quickly drop spoonfuls of candy onto buttered baking sheets or waxed paper. If mixture becomes too thick to drop from a spoon, add hot water, a half-teaspoon at a time. Makes about 36 pralines.