There is no need to make your own dough for this Napoleon dessert because frozen puff pastry sheets are used. When baking, it’s important to keep the dough flat, which we achieve by docking or pricking it all over with a fork. The first step in preparing Napoleons is to make these buttery, crispy sheets.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 117 |
| Yield: | 5 pounds |
Ingredients
- 6 cups white sugar, divided
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 pounds pecan halves or pieces
Instructions
- Butter a 9×13-inch dish and a medium, heavy saucepan.
- Combine 4 cups sugar and cream in the buttered saucepan. Set aside.
- Pour remaining 2 cups sugar in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar begins to melt.
- Place the saucepan with sugar and cream over low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Continue to cook and stir sugar in the skillet until completely melted and light brown. Pour melted sugar very slowly, in a thin stream, into the lightly simmering cream, stirring constantly. This step may take about 5 minutes, and works best if someone pours the melted sugar very slowly.
- Heat, without stirring, to 242 to 248 degrees F (116 to 120 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (mixture will foam). Drop the butter into the foaming mixture and let rest without stirring for 30 minutes.
- Stir in vanilla with a wooden spoon and continue to stir vigorously until mixture loses its gloss, 10 to 15 minutes. Then fold in pecans and quickly turn candy into the prepared 9×13-inch dish. Let cool until just warm and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 114 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 8 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 13 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m a pastry chef & chocolatier, I Love this recipe! If made Properly it’s very different from standard Carmel. Closer to a demi fudge , semi Carmel-ish texture. My family hates it when I make it…. They cannot stop eating it. You do need help making this delicious candy , it will Not turn our right if you rush the pouring or touch it during the setting period. Who knows how well it keeps? It gets eaten up as fast as we make it. . I substituted almonds for pecans , extra vanilla. Salt the top.
The first batch I made had the wrong consistency. I stirred it by hand for about 15 mins. The second batch however is like I remembered! W e made sure to pour VERY VERY slowly. THen after the 30 min sitting period, I decided to try my stand mixer on STIR for about 20 mins. I’m glad I only used 1 lb of pecans. Two lbs would be way too much. Like many other reviewers, I have memories of my Grandmother in OKLA making this every Christmas! Delicious. THANK YOU! Knowing what all goes into making this, my parents will be so happy to get this as a gift!
My Oklahoma grandma made this fabulous candy every Christmas until she was in her 80s. It’s not easy! When my husband decided to try making it, he used a wooden spoon like a drill bit in his electric drill. It was a great way to make the heavy duty stirring easier.
My husband and I have made this candy every year for the past 21 years. My mother and dad used to make it for Christmas and then my mom passed away. My brother loved the candy so much, I had to start making it for him. He sends me the pecans every year to help out. It was a little difficult the first couple of times, but we are old pros now and make 2 batches every Christmas! Love this recipe, it’s one of our favorites.
Excellent! I’ll be making this for Christmas as long as I’m able. May add a pinch of salt in with the pecans, next time.
My favorite candy ever! It’s been a handed down recipe since the 40’s. I love the taste of caramel but this is so much better not to mention an awesome texture and doesn’t stick to your teeth. You need two people to make this but so worth it.
I’ve been making Aunt Bill’s brown candy for over 30 years; got my recipe from my late mother-in-law. We use butter, cream & pecans in our version. Forget about margarine – it’s bad for you anyway. And use pecans & cream, not walnuts & milk. Also called “Oklahoma Brown Candy”, “Aunt Bill’s Brown Fudge”, etc. I did a little research: the recipe dates as far back as the 1920s, & may be a variation on the Louisiana praline. It was frequently re-published in “The Oklahoman”, and the earliest mention I found of it was in 1931, in The Oklahoman’s “Aunt Susan” column, by Susan Elliott. “Aunt Susan” mentions her Aunt Bill, so perhaps she really was Susan’s aunt.
I just made this and it is delicious and turned out great! Since pecans are so expensive, I only committed to making half a batch of the candy. I didn’t have any heavy cream on hand so I substituted 3/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup butter. I cooked the two together on low heat in a pan until the butter melted into them milk and poured it in the recipe. My candy thermometer is MIA so after testing it about 5 times in cold water, I cooked it until the soft ball stage which worked just fine. Aunt Bill must not have had an electric mixer but I do. To heck with mixing this with a wooden spoon! I used my mixer and beat the mixture on low until the gloss went away in just a few minutes. When it came time to put the concoction in the pan, I put butter on my hands and stuffed it into the pan and made the top look smooth and creamy. This is a hit with my family. Thank you! :0)
I followed the instructions… but I find the part about when to stop stirring a little vague. After staring at the inside of this pot for 10 minutes, and then 15 minutes, it looks the same. I thought the gloss had gone, but since it is not hardening in the pan, nor in the fridge, I have to assume the gloss was not gone after all. I am going to try to re-heat it tomorrow and see if I can fix it by continuing to stir some more…. What would be really helpful is if someone who makes a successful batch could take the temp of the candy just before they pour it maybe? I find the taste of this to be almost identical to the “hot caramel” sauce you get at McDonalds. In fact, if this does not harden, I’m going to put it in chunks in the freezer and just microwave to a pour-able temperature and put on icecream. But if someone has an idea on how to tell “when the gloss is gone”, I would love to hear from you! ridingranch@hotmail.com I stopped when it was difficult to stir because it had thickened up and it didn’t look glossy anymore.
I can’t tell you how thrilled and SURPRISED I was to see this recipe posted on your site. My mother made it every Christmas and I attempted it several times during the past 50 years, BUT, NEVER really mastered it, wanted to try it this year, but my old copy was so bad I was afraid I’d leave out a step or ingredient. Took a chance and typed it into the search here on allrecipes.com and voila! Even has the same name, which is unbelievable (it is an unusual name, right?). My adult grandson helped me with the pouring and stirring-I could not have done it without him. It turned out perfectly, just like my mother made. It’s hard to describe the texture and flavor, suffice it to say, it’s like nothing else, it’s delicious, and worth all the work. I felt very guilty for never helping my mother, she did it all alone. I can also understand why she hoarded it until Christmas eve. When I served it at a family gathering, this year, I gave a little presentation as to how much work it was and gave my grandson, Cassidy, props for all his muscle power and encouragement. This candy is a lot like caramel, without the stickiness, fudgelike in texture, but the browned sugar flavor is prominently scrumptous. If I haven’t scared you away, EVERYONE should try it! You will love it, like all my family and friends loved it! Thank you for posting it!!! I love you!!!
My family always makes Aunt Bill’s for Christmas. It’s difficult to make it come out correctly at high altitudes (above 5,000 ft), but it’s always delicious!
This is a great Candy Recipe from Oklahoma! My mother remembers eating this as a child when my nana made it. I have a worn, newspaper copy from Ask Melba’s column in the Daily Oklahoman and was hoping to find it on allrecipes where I keep all mine now. Thanks Karen Rodgers!! You made my day!
Now that I have wiped the tears away from laughing, I can type. You see, I thought this was an old “secret” family recipe. One that my mother gave to me before she died. I nearly died when I saw that my family’s “secret recipe” is all over the world!!! This candy is beyond compare. I love it so much. I found a company in Austin, Texas, called ” Lammes Candies ” that makes this candy (or close). It, too, is divine and will suffice as a substitute if you can’t make your own. When I get to heaven, I am going to have to remember to tell my mama about this.
These are great! They taste like carmel pecan fudge. This is the first time I’ve made any type of candy, and they came out great. I did only use 1 lb of pecans, and that seemed like plenty.
I’m so excited I found this!! We are the only family in our area that makes “Oklahoma Fudge”. Good to see people in Indiana and other places east of the Mississippi have the recipe too. Can’t wait to tell my Mom and Uncles about Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy being a favorite of Oklahomans, great to finally get some history on it. My Grandmother made it as far back as my family could remember. My Mom finally started making it before my Grandmother died, and I am going to try my hand at it this year. All of the tips and advice are right on the money, and believe you me there was always a lot of talk about the process. I would add that cooking is chemistry and all the steps need to be followed carefully. If the recipe says 242 degrees – do it. If you have to beat it for 15 minutes, do it. My Grandmother always had to “recover” from making Oklahoma Fudge. Also, never make it on a day when there is moisture in the air – it won’t set properly. So if it’s raining or on the humid side – put it off. My family shipped a pound to my brother in the first Iraq war and he and a buddy ate themselves sick on it. I never liked it until I was in my 30’s, I think it was just too strong for my young taste buds and I preferred other things. Now I can’t get enough of it. It is a carmellized sugar candy, not a fudge, but that’s just what we always called it – fudge. It’s so exciting to see it!! Missing my Grandmother.
We have been making this candy for years and I have yet to meet a single person that didn’t simply love it. I am asked every year to make it from Thanksgiving through New Years and beyond. BEST HOMEMADE CANDY EVER!
I’ve made this batch in double with success. The trick is to not get in a hurry and have help in the kitchen. I use stainless cookware and utensils, I tend to break wooden spoons too easily. Use a large sauce pan, when you add the soda the volume of the candy will easily double. I also put a cookie sheet on top of the stove to move the sauce pan to. This way if Mt. Vesuvius becomes a reenactment on my stove the clean up is simple. Use unsalted butter. Tag team stirring.
As other people have stated, I always thought that “Aunt Bill” was a relative that my Grandmother got this recipe from!! My family has discovered the trick to beating the mixture for the 15 minutes to get the sheen out . . . use an Electric Power Drill!! Yes your husband’s drill. Insert your wooden spoon into the end of the drill and have it do the work for you! Trust me, I’ve even heard this same trick from a friends grandmother and she does the same thing and has been for almost 2 decades. Favorite Candy of All Time!! P.S. It freezes REALLY well and lasts for months that way.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas candies. Granny would include these in her gift boxes (read: former bluebonnet fruitcake tins) to all of the grandkids. The Aunt Bill’s were always the first to go. So good. Karen, thank you for sharing this. I make it every year now and the reviews are always fantastic. To those that say “it’s caramel”: caramel wishes it was this good. I use two cast iron pans, one a skillet and the other a dutch oven (no legs) to prepare this wonderful candy. Jack
This is a recipe from my childhood many years ago in Oklahoma. My grandmother (an original OK homesteader) made it and gave the recipe to my mother. She always made 2 batches. The first she hid where us kids could find it and the second she hid really good to have for Christmas, Brings back many fond memories. Jlpfield Indiana
This is almost identical to my Aunt Echo’s caramel fudge recipe which is very old. It’s delicious and not difficult if you know how to carmelize sugar.