Caramelized Pecans: How to make less messy?

On Sunday I tried the "Gingerbread Pancakes with Carmelized Pecans" recipe from the Austin Folk House (http://www.austinfolkhouse.com/breakfast.php) and they were spectacular. It was also interesting to learn that one can melt sugar without adding any fluid! I had no idea of this until Sunday.

I'd like to make these again, but I'm wondering if there's a less messy way to make the caramelized pecans. They quite quickly attain rock-like hardness, so it's rather difficult to break them down into small chunks. Perhaps spooning the mixture onto waxed paper would be the best way to do it, or would a heavily greased pan be better?

-Hugh

are you cooking the sugar too long?

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

are you cooking the sugar too long?

I don't know. How long is too long? I got the impression from the picture that the caramelized sugar would end up clinging to the pecans, but it was more like a mass of caramel with pecans in it.

Try adding cornsyrup to the sugar??

Yikes! I can see how messy that could get. This is the way we used to do it in the restaurant biz.

Make a sugar syrup 1:1. Rinse off nuts to get rid of any dust, then put them in the sugar syrup and poach about 5 minutes in the simmering sugar syrup. Take them out, taking care to let them drain well. Spread them out on an oiled cookie sheet. Let dry 15 minutes. Poach again in sugar syrup for 5 minutes. Drain well, spread on newly oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for however long it takes for them to get crusty and brown.

I can't imagine doing it the way the recipe describes.

As an alternative, you could make something like this that you could make ahead of time.

SPICED PECANS

1 lb. pecan halves
1 egg white
1 tsp. water
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt

Beat egg white and water together. Pour over pecans and mix well. Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt and gradually add to pecan mixture. Mix well. Spread on greased cookie sheet (or sprayed with non-tick spray). Bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

When I make caramel popcorn, I make the caramel in the microwave. Couldn't you do the same with the pecans? If you want, I can give you the microwave caramel popcorn recipe, and you can tweak it for the pecans instead.

quote:

Originally posted by RubyRose

As an alternative, you could make something like this that you could make ahead of time.

SPICED PECANS

1 lb. pecan halves
1 egg white
1 tsp. water
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt

Beat egg white and water together. Pour over pecans and mix well. Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt and gradually add to pecan mixture. Mix well. Spread on greased cookie sheet (or sprayed with non-tick spray). Bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Thanks for this RubyRose - I just made a batch! Serving them tomorrow with bananas foster french toast...