Pralines

Ingredients

• 400 g brown sugar, packed; dark brown for traditional pralines, light brown for a milder result
• 100 g white sugar
• 240 ml double cream
• 60 g unsalted butter, not margarine
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 g pecan halves, whole halves, not pieces

Method

1. 1
   Line two large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper and set them on a flat, stable surface within arm's reach of the stove. Have a tablespoon and a candy thermometer to hand before any heat is applied. Humid days will soften the finished candy; choose a dry day if possible.
2. 2
   Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, cream, and butter in a heavy saucepan — copper if available, for even heat distribution. Set over medium heat and stir until the sugars dissolve and the butter melts. The mixture should be smooth and uniformly liquid with no visible grains before the temperature begins to climb.
3. 3
   Clip the candy thermometer to the pan. Cook without stirring, watching the thermometer closely. The target is 112–116°C — the soft-ball stage. To verify without a thermometer: drop a small amount of the mixture into cold water; it should form a soft, pliable ball. The window between a praline that will not set (below 112°C) and one that sets too hard (above 116°C) is 4°C. This is where the dish lives or dies: remove the pan from the heat the instant the thermometer reads between 112°C and 116°C.
4. 4
   Remove the pan from the heat immediately. Add the vanilla extract and the pecan halves. Begin stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon — this is the beat, and it must happen off the heat. Stir continuously for 1 to 3 minutes as the mixture cools. The transformation to watch for: the mixture will shift from high gloss to a matte, thickened appearance, and will begin to hold a trail behind the spoon.
5. 5
   The moment the mixture loses its gloss and visibly thickens, begin dropping it immediately onto the prepared parchment in heaped tablespoon rounds, spacing them to allow for slight spread. Work quickly and with confidence — the mixture will set in the pot within 30 to 60 seconds of reaching this stage. Each praline should be approximately 7 cm in diameter with pecan halves visible and intact on the surface.
6. 6
   Leave the pralines undisturbed at room temperature until fully set. A properly set praline will shatter slightly at the edge when bitten, then give way to a creamy, sandy interior — the sugar has crystallised into fine grains suspended in the cream-butter matrix. The texture is neither hard like toffee nor soft like fudge, but a specific intermediate stage. If the pralines remain glossy and pliable after cooling, the mixture was not beaten long enough or did not reach temperature.