What is the "soft-ball stage" and why is it important?

The soft-ball stage is the ball stage of sugar boiling (about 115–118 °C), where a drop of syrup forms a ball in cold water. If the sugar is boiled too little, the mass turns out loose; too long, and it turns hard and won't work up white and pliable.

Why should the chocolate be melted over a water bath without sugar?

A water bath gives mild, even heat so the chocolate doesn't burn. Sugar is not added, since the filling with 250 g sugar and powdered sugar is already sweet enough – and sugar can make the chocolate grainy.

How long does it take, and is there a variation without sugar mass?

Allow about 2 hours and 15 minutes in all, of which the balls need to dry 1 hour before dipping. As an alternative to the sugar mass, you can use a nut mass of ¼ kg hazelnuts, 180 g powdered sugar, and 2 egg whites.

Chocolate Pralines

Chocolate pralines from Erken 1914: a sugar syrup with glucose boiled to 115 °C, worked into a white fondant with milk and vanilla, shaped into balls, dried, and dipped in melted chocolate. Variation with hazelnut paste.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 631 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Classic fondant pralines from the confectionery chapter in Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914). The sugar syrup is boiled to the "soft-ball stage" and worked out on a dish into white fondant – a technique she describes in several places. Erken also gives a variation with hazelnut paste instead of fondant.

How to make it

1
Boil the sugar syrup
Boil the sugar, water, and glucose syrup to the soft-ball stage, about 115 °C (240 °F).
2
Cool down
Pour the mixture out at once onto a lightly oiled dish, a marble slab, or parchment and let it cool.
3
Work into fondant
Add the milk and vanilla essence and work the mass with a wooden spoon until it turns white and pliable.
4
Shape balls
Shape small, round balls from the mass, roll them in powdered sugar, and let them dry for 1 hour.
5
Coat with chocolate
Cut the chocolate into small pieces and melt it over a water bath without adding sugar. Dip the balls in the chocolate and lift them out with a fork. Place them on paper until they set.
6
Variation
Instead of the fondant mass, you can use a mass of 250 g hazelnuts and 180 g powdered sugar stirred with 2 egg whites.

Changes from the original

"Soft-ball stage" is specified as about 115 °C (240 °F). Glucose corresponds to modern glucose syrup. The oiled dish is replaced by parchment or a marble slab. A dessert spoon is converted to about 1 tsp, and vanilla essence can be replaced by vanilla extract.

Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From1914 1949 Modernised

To1914 1949 Modernised

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Frequently asked questions

What is the "soft-ball stage" and why is it important?: The soft-ball stage is the ball stage of sugar boiling (about 115–118 °C), where a drop of syrup forms a ball in cold water. If the sugar is boiled too little, the mass turns out loose; too long, and it turns hard and won't work up white and pliable.
Why should the chocolate be melted over a water bath without sugar?: A water bath gives mild, even heat so the chocolate doesn't burn. Sugar is not added, since the filling with 250 g sugar and powdered sugar is already sweet enough – and sugar can make the chocolate grainy.
How long does it take, and is there a variation without sugar mass?: Allow about 2 hours and 15 minutes in all, of which the balls need to dry 1 hour before dipping. As an alternative to the sugar mass, you can use a nut mass of ¼ kg hazelnuts, 180 g powdered sugar, and 2 egg whites.

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