Pecan Pralines — December Sugar and a Nine-Year-Old Art Director

December and the tree is up. Same rules: noble fir, seven feet, white lights only. Colette has taken over ornament placement this year — she has a "design plan" that involves spacing and color distribution and thematic clusters. She is nine and interior decorating her way through childhood. Luc hung three ornaments and declared himself finished. Rémy hung two on the same branch again. The tree looks like exactly what it is: a family's history in ornaments, with a nine-year-old art director and two boys who don't care about spacing.

Work is winding down. I finished the last big job — the house in Central — and Marcus is handling the remaining service calls. The business had a good year. Better than good. I sat with the numbers on Saturday night (at Danielle's insistence, because Danielle believes in quarterly reviews the way I believe in quarterly gumbo) and the numbers were solid. We're not rich. We'll never be rich. But we're stable, and stable with three kids and a mortgage in Baton Rouge is its own kind of wealth.

Mama's health is good. She went for her annual checkup and the doctor said everything looks fine, which she reported to me with the tone of a woman who considers doctors an unnecessary formality. "I told you I was fine," she said. "The doctor just confirmed what I already knew." This is Mama's relationship with medicine: she tolerates it the way I tolerate brown rice — grudgingly, because someone she loves insists on it.

Made pralines this week — pecan pralines, the Cajun candy, the thing you make in December because December requires sugar in excessive quantities and pecans are cheap and the combination of the two, cooked to soft-ball stage and dropped onto wax paper, is the Louisiana version of a Christmas cookie. Butter, brown sugar, cream, pecans, vanilla. You cook it until it reaches 236 degrees and then you stir like your life depends on it and drop spoonfuls onto wax paper and pray they set. They set. They were perfect. Colette and I made four dozen and she packaged them in cellophane bags with ribbons for her teachers and neighbors. She is nine and already gifting like a professional. The world is not ready for adult Colette.

So here’s the recipe Colette and I used — four dozen pralines, all of them set, all of them wrapped in cellophane with ribbons by a nine-year-old who takes gift presentation more seriously than most adults I know. It’s the simplest candy you’ll ever make and the one that disappears fastest. Butter, brown sugar, cream, pecans, vanilla, a candy thermometer, and a little faith that they’ll set. They will.

Pecan Pralines

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 48 pralines

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Prepare your workspace. Line two large baking sheets with wax paper or parchment paper. Have two spoons ready for dropping the pralines.
2. Combine the sugars and cream. In a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and heavy cream over medium heat. Stir until the sugars dissolve completely.
3. Cook to soft-ball stage. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 236°F (soft-ball stage), about 15 to 20 minutes. Adjust heat as needed to maintain a steady boil without scorching.
4. Remove from heat and add butter. Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the butter, pecans, vanilla, and salt. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to thicken and turn slightly opaque, about 2 to 3 minutes. It will go from glossy to creamy — that’s when you know it’s ready.
5. Drop onto wax paper. Working quickly, drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared wax paper, spacing them about 2 inches apart. If the mixture hardens in the pan before you finish, add a teaspoon of hot water and stir to loosen it.
6. Let them set. Allow the pralines to cool completely at room temperature until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks, or wrap in cellophane bags with ribbons if you have a nine-year-old gifting coordinator on staff.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 95 | Protein: 0.5g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 13g | Fiber: 0.3g | Sodium: 15mg