Southern Pralines - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. light cream
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 c. pecan halves

Preparation

Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan.
In the saucepan combine sugar, brown sugar and cream.
Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugars.
This should take 6 to 8 minutes.
Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan.
Carefully clip candy thermometer to pan.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 234\u00b0, soft ball stage.
Mixture should boil at moderate, steady rate over entire surface.
Reaching soft ball stage should take 16 to 18 minutes.
Remove pan from heat.
Add the butter, but do not stir.
Cool, without stirring to 150\u00b0, about 30 minutes. Remove thermometer.
Immediately stir in pecans.
Beat vigorously with the wooden spoon until candy is just beginning to thicken but is still glossy.
This should take 2 to 3 minutes.
Drop from a teaspoon onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.
If candy becomes too stiff to drop, stir in a few drops of hot water.
Store tightly covered.
Makes about 36 pralines.