What should Pralines look like?

[random amblings]

I sampled pralines at Thanksgiving, made the day before by a native Louisianian (??) cook. They were rough on the top, pale, rather like a semi-formed snowball in shape and size. I had always thought pralines were thin, caramel colored, with visible pecans encased in a thin translucent case.

Which is the norm?

[Chocolatechipkt]

I've only seen/made/eaten the latter kind.

Here's one pic I found:
http://home.att.net/~magnoliaholidays...

[choctastic]

yeah that pic shows the kind i've had. last year had some that were shipped out of LA. delish

[Tandoori Girl]

the best ones are the freshest, still a little warm and just poured onto wax paper. the sugar, thin when it's just been cooked, will get more crystalized as it ages. I prefer mine on the thin side, looking like a chocolate chip cookie, rather than a snowball.

[Hungry Celeste]

Sounds like the pralines were starting to "set up" when they were scooped out of the pot. This doesn't mean they were bad, just a little sturdier in texture than the ideal. If the sugar mixture is beginning to harden, then you'll get balls of pecans and sugar rather than the flatter candies you've seen before. If they start to set up, I generally pour the whole mess out into a sheet pan, cool, then roughly chop into bits and stir into a basic sugar cookie dough for "praline cookies".

[Chocolatechipkt]

Mmm, that sounds good. Almost tempting to let them set up wrong now!

[MikeG]

Also, like fudge, graininess is the "big" thing that requires a certain amount of experience to avoid. They still taste OK, but they should be smooth, not grainy.