37 replies to this topic

[Jaymes]

Jaymes, have you ever have praline roll? My grandpa's cook used to pour the praline mixture out on the kitchen work table, (enamel top) spread vanilla nougat on it (working quickly while both were still warm) then roll the mass up like a jelly roll and slice it into discs that looked like pinwheels.

Years later I came across a commercial candy that was similar but I haven't seen it for decades.

No. Wow... Talk about gilding the lily!

I come from a pretty strong "praline" background, too. But that's a new one on me.

I have a hard enough time getting the stuff out of the pan. I can't imagine how one would roll it up. Wonder if she made any adjustments to the standard praline recipe.

[Jaymes]

Oh man, when I was a little kid, every single time we were at my grandmother's house, my great-grandmother would come down the hall to the living room with a box of dates and offer them to everyone. Weird which memories we manage to keep. Anyway, it was always a flat box similar to chocolates, I'd say definitely in the neighborhood of one pound.

I hadn't really thought about this much until this thread, but as MJX points out above, it does seem "generational," as though dates used to be much more popular. We loved them in our household. But fruits in general used to be far more common as a standalone dessert, I think, just like your great-grandmother passing around the date box. I remember platters of dates and figs and dried apricots presented basically unadorned with evening port.

Haven't seen that in many years. Not sure why, except that these things go in and out of fashion, of course.

But I suspect that it also has something to do with our increasing taste for refined sugar treats. Just plain ol' fruit doesn't do it for us anymore.

[andiesenji]

Jaymes, have you ever have praline roll? My grandpa's cook used to pour the praline mixture out on the kitchen work table, (enamel top) spread vanilla nougat on it (working quickly while both were still warm) then roll the mass up like a jelly roll and slice it into discs that looked like pinwheels.

Years later I came across a commercial candy that was similar but I haven't seen it for decades.

No. Wow... Talk about gilding the lily!

I come from a pretty strong "praline" background, too. But that's a new one on me.

I have a hard enough time getting the stuff out of the pan. I can't imagine how one would roll it up. Wonder if she made any adjustments to the standard praline recipe.

She poured it out onto the (enamel topped) table and squared up the edges with the side of a biscuit pan and flattened it with the bottom of the pan (buttered) and then poured the warm nougat on the top, spread that with a big wood spatula that she also used for stirring grits.
It was still pretty hot when she started rolling it but her hands could obviously take a lot of heat.

It had to be sliced with a hot knife while it was still soft. She wrapped the individual slices in waxed paper.

[janeer]

Jaymes, have you ever have praline roll? My grandpa's cook used to pour the praline mixture out on the kitchen work table, (enamel top) spread vanilla nougat on it (working quickly while both were still warm) then roll the mass up like a jelly roll and slice it into discs that looked like pinwheels.

Years later I came across a commercial candy that was similar but I haven't seen it for decades.

No. Wow... Talk about gilding the lily!

I come from a pretty strong "praline" background, too. But that's a new one on me.

I have a hard enough time getting the stuff out of the pan. I can't imagine how one would roll it up. Wonder if she made any adjustments to the standard praline recipe.

She poured it out onto the (enamel topped) table and squared up the edges with the side of a biscuit pan and flattened it with the bottom of the pan (buttered) and then poured the warm nougat on the top, spread that with a big wood spatula that she also used for stirring grits.
It was still pretty hot when she started rolling it but her hands could obviously take a lot of heat.

It had to be sliced with a hot knife while it was still soft. She wrapped the individual slices in waxed paper.

Was this praline or caramel and pecans? I used to have something like this when I was a child, but it was caramel, not praline.

[andiesenji]

Janeer, it was praline. My grandpa had a large grove of pecan trees so we had a huge supply.

She also made caramels but it was quite different.

[janeer]

Janeer, it was praline. My grandpa had a large grove of pecan trees so we had a huge supply.

She also made caramels but it was quite different.

Wow, I can't imagine how it could be rolled up without breaking/cracking.

[andiesenji]

Janeer, it was praline. My grandpa had a large grove of pecan trees so we had a huge supply.

She also made caramels but it was quite different.

Wow, I can't imagine how it could be rolled up without breaking/cracking.

You have to work fast, while it is still hot and it seizes fast so locks into place almost instantly.

[Jaymes]

Janeer, it was praline. My grandpa had a large grove of pecan trees so we had a huge supply.

She also made caramels but it was quite different.

Wow, I can't imagine how it could be rolled up without breaking/cracking.

You have to work fast, while it is still hot and it seizes fast so locks into place almost instantly.

I've been thinking about this and don't see how this would work with a typical "creamy praline" recipe. The individual pralines are so fragile that they often crumble even while you're trying to wrap them in cellophane or something, and I don't see any way they would hold up to rolling.

I can, however, see how it would work with the typical "chewy praline" recipe. That produces a much more substantial candy.