Recipe for "pecan-pralines"

NAME

     PECAN-PRALINES - Texas-style creamy pecan cookies
     My family is from Texas, and we  dearly  love  ``authentic''
     Mexican  food. Authentic as defined by my father: home-style
     Tex-Mex.  (On a trip to  Acapulco,  he  complained  that  he
     couldn't find any real Mexican food in the whole damn town.)
     We feel that the perfect ending to an orgy of tacos,  enchi-
     ladas,  tamales, beans, rice and Dos Equis beer is pralines.
     However, we have been consistently disappointed by the  pra-
     lines  served  at restaurants.  They are always either crys-
     talline and crunchy, or sticky like undercooked taffy.  Both
     are equally unacceptable.
     At the age of 10, I decided to try my hand  at  making  pra-
     lines, and happened on a recipe in a current (1958) issue of
     The Ladies Home Journal, which I accidently adapted to  make
     the  perfect  praline-not gooey, not crunchy, but of a solid
     consistency that becomes creamy in texture as it  is  eaten.
     The  secret  is  to first screw up the recipe (at this point
     you are tempted to throw the whole thing out, including  the
     pot)  and then rectify the mistake into a wonderfully sinful
     sugary concoction.  Now,  no  Mexican  dinner  or  Christmas
     candy plate at our house is complete without them.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 16-24)

     240 ml    milk
     190 g     white granulated sugar
     200 g     dark brown sugar, firmly packed.
     5 ml      vanilla extract
     45 ml     dark corn syrup
     225 g     pecan halves
     180 ml    boiling hot water
     24        cupcake papers

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Place the white sugar, brown sugar, milk and  corn
               syrup in a heavy 3-liter saucepan over medium-high
               heat.  Stir to thoroughly dissolve.
          (2)  Measuring the temperature with a  candy  thermome-
               ter,  stir  constantly  with a long-handled wooden
               spoon.  When the mixture  reaches  ``jelly''  tem-
               perature  on  the thermometer (104 deg. C) it will
               bubble furiously. Splattering is a danger (this is
               why you want a spoon with a long handle).  You may
               wish to wear heavy rubber gloves for further  pro-
               tection.   Continue stirring until mixture reaches
               124 deg. C (``medium ball'' stage).
          (3)  Remove from heat, add vanilla and let it  sit  for
               10 minutes.  During this time, set out the cupcake
               papers on the countertop  and  place  3 - 4  pecan
               halves in each paper.
          (4)  Beat the mixture by hand with  the  wooden  spoon,
               while  it  is still in the pan, until it loses its
               glossy sheen.  This can take up to 10  minutes  or
               more, and calls for a strong arm.
          (5)  At this point, the mixture will very quickly begin
               to  form  lumps  and  harden  in the pan.  As this
               begins to happen, return the pan to low heat;  add
               boiling hot water a tablespoon at a time, and beat
               out the lumps until nearly all are gone. Add  just
               enough water so that the mixture is somewhat runny
               and has lost  much  of  its  previous  lumpy  con-
               sistency  (no more than 180 ml of water, and often
               much less.)  Leaving a few  lumps  is  permissible
               and often unavoidable.
          (6)  Remove from heat and spoon  it  into  the  cupcake
               papers.   Let  it  harden  for 20-30 minutes, then
               remove papers.  Be sure  not  to  let  the  papers
               remain on after the candy has hardened somewhat or
               they will be difficult to remove later.

NOTES

     I prefer Karo brand corn syrup.
     Store the pralines in an airtight container.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate to hard.  Time: 30 minutes cooking,  30
     minutes cooling.  Precision: Measure the ingredients and the
     temperatures.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Pamela McGarvey
     UCLA Comprehensive Epilepsy Program
     {ihnp4!sdcrdcf,ucbvax!ucla-cs,hao}!cepu!pam