Pecan Pralines

Combined 2 recipes for this and am pretty happy, but I'll update as I fiddle.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbspn molasses or corn syrup or cane syrup (I used cane syrup)
• 6-8tbspn (˜115g) salted butter
• 1.5 cups pralines, crushed

1. Mix the milk and sugars and syrup and very slowly bring them to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Take them to the soft ball candy stage / 238F
3. Add the butter and stir while it bubbles like crazy.
4. Add the pecans.
5. Bring back to 238 / soft ball
6. Immediately spoon out onto parchment paper (˜2tbspn each) and let cool completely

Easy Peasy

Notes:

If you go to fast (like I did) and the milk proteins curdle out (like mine did) you can fix them by hitting the mix with a immersion blender once it starts to thicken.  Similarly if the caramel seperates after adding the butter you can do the same.  This is why I add the pecans last.

As soon as you remove the pot from the stove, start spooning out pralines.  I let it cool some, concerned about the volcanic heat, and by 1/2 way through spooning them out, my praline mix was hardening in the pot.

The mulk curdling otu annoyed me, and makes me thing that next time I might make my caramel with just water and then add cream with the butter.  But I have to think on this.

These were a big hit at T's work and tasted as good as the ones I buy in New Orleans, like molassesy, nutty fudge.