I’m happy to be back to Sweet Melissa Sundays with Butterscotch Pralines. Usually when a recipe involves cooking sugar, my post involves me going on about how nervous it makes me and how I always burn or undercook it. I am happy to say that I actually had no problems this time – hooray! I don’t know if was my new candy thermometer (after going through several, hopefully this one will work out) or my fearless attitude, but something worked. I do have a few tips for this recipe: 1) They say a watched pot never boils, but definitely keep your eye on the boiled sugar – I used a medium-size pot as suggested, and it nearly boiled over (what a sticky mess that would have been). 2) Make sure you soak the bowl with the candy mixture immediately after making the pralines. Do not eat dinner and watch “Top Chef,” then think you can just clean it up - no fun. 3) Definitely crumble some of the pralines over Melissa’s Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream, which she recommends. That ice cream is undoubtedly the recipe I have made most from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. So good.
Now for the rating. Often times I ask Josh for a Deliciousness rating right after I make something and he tries the treat. I have decided that’s not always the best method, as a fresh baked good (or piece of candy in this case) is always appealing. Sometimes he’ll give a high rating, but then treats won’t get eaten quickly and I’ll have to remind him they’re there. I made these on Wednesday night and asked for a review today: they received a 7.5, and they are steadily (not rapidly) disappearing, so it seems pretty accurate. I thought the pralines were tasty, but on the cloyingly sweet side. I think they would be spectacular layered on top of a buttery shortbread cookie, for a nice contrast of flavor and texture. I gave them a 3 for Effort, for an EDR 2.5.
Our hostess this week, Tessa of The Cookin’ Chemist, said she selected the recipe since they were quick and would be great on ice cream, which I think are awesome reasons to choose a recipe. I also think it’s awesome that the scientist chose a candy recipe. You can find the recipe here on Tessa’s site and visit the SMS blogroll to see how these worked out for the rest of the group.
11 comments:
Your pralines look good on the ice cream...got to try to make the ice cream, now that you mention...
Carmen
Yours look like you did not have problems. I did and my first batch looked like nuts in a swimming pool.
Yours are appealing and attractive.
I thought they were super sweet too but that didn't stop me! I love the picture with them scattered on top of the ice-cream. I was going to try that but my husband managed to eat them all. Probably a good thing!
I am afraid to learn how to make these, I might like them a little too much. The fun of going to New Orleans is always getting one of these pralines and then the memory of it makes it that much more exciting the next time. I'm not sure if I could live with knowing I could make that much excitement on a moment's notice. I will just drool over yours and look forward to the next NOLA trip. Yours look wonderful.
Glad to hear your candy making went well! Candy thermometers are scary. Your pralines look great and I think putting them on top of ice creams is the way to go! These are almost too sweet to eat on their own. I always enjoy reading posts and your ratings. It's fun to see how the recipes stack up from week to week.
yours look so good crumbled on top of that ice cream! we did that too, but ate them too fast to take a pic. :) glad these worked out for you!
You are torturing me! Your butterscotch pralines look fantastic. I would crawl to Marin to try them. I haven't tried making candy since I was in high school when I made a batch of candy coated mandarin orange slices which ended up as a rock-hard candy coated blob. My mother tried to rescue them but she was as inexperienced as I was.
So many people had trouble with these this week but yours look perfect! I love that bowl. I saw one just like that last week when we were at Miette at the Ferry Building and almost bought it--now I wish I had!
They look so tempting on the ice cream! I like your idea of pairing them with buttery shortbread - that sounds like a great compliment for a sweet praline.
Pralines are a childhood favorite. I haven't had them in years, but your look so tempting, especially with the ice cream.
Mimi
Hooray for candy-making success! Looks like your pralines turned out perfectly. Melissa's brown sugar vanilla ice cream is one my favorites too and the only thing that stops me for making it more often is how quickly I eat it! :)
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