One weekend a few years ago, while taking a break from studying for his law school admissions test, Terrence Jones was in the French Quarter with friends on a mission to sample some of the city’s best pralines. After a few tastings, his suspicions were confirmed: his recipe tasted far better. It was an aha moment for the regional manager of AT&T that prompted him to start a business making the praline candy from the recipe that has been in his family for over a century, passed down from his grandmother, Hermie Duffy-Jones, to his father, Sydney, and then to him.

The Lafayette native recounts fond memories of sitting in his grandmother’s kitchen, around age 10, watching her make her signature pralines. “She had a Magnalite pot on a gas stove where she would mix butter, Karo syrup, Carnation milk, a combination of white and brown sugar, vanilla extract and pecans, and then stir it for 45 minutes to an hour,” he recalls. 

By 24, and with a business management degree (concentrating on legal studies) Jones was spooning out the pecan delights, himself. After a little tweaking of the recipe – white sugar only, strictly pure vanilla extract, no salt (as some prefer), and other secrets – Jones began rendering a softer praline, just a tad less sweet than his grandmother’s. Eager to share a part of his family’s history, he opened Louisiana Creole Pecan Candy, along with his mother, Barbara Jones, and aunt, Debra Garland.

For Jones, his pecan candies are as much about preserving the history of a food and its cultures as it is about candy making. “Many Cajuns have a little Creole heritage and don’t even know it,” he points out in discussing his own background. “The Creole culture is dying – both its language and the heritage around it.” Jones is using culture as a business model of sorts in the food industry, making pecan candies that are a blend of Cajun and Creole traditions.

Along with the Creole-inspired original praline recipe, he offers his Zydeco milk chocolate candy, the Rum Tell Dat, white chocolate praline, white chocolate peppermint (a Christmas favorite) and, as of last summer, two vegan options.

The Magnolia Praline is the first and only gluten, dairy and soy-free praline, according to Jones. Made with coconut milk, vegan butter, organic sugar, pure vanilla and nuts, it’s become popular outside of Louisiana. “A lot of people here don’t want anything other than what they’re used to,” Jones says smiling.  Another vegan option is Cypress Rum, a version of the Rum Tell Dat.  Jones plans to have a vegan version of every praline. 

For those who don’t eat nuts, the Parish Candy option is a rich-tasting dulce de leche made with dairy cream, sugar and vanilla. A best seller this month is the seasonal Mardi Gras pecan candy that includes the familiar flavors of a king cake: cinnamon, almond and vanilla.

Reviewers report that the pralines “have a generous amount of pecans;” “are not hard, gooey or chewy;” and “melt in your mouth.” In fact Jones suggests adding some to a cup of hot coffee for a creamy, praline-flavored creamer. “You’ll notice a difference between my pralines and other brands made by people who are not from our Creole heritage,” he contends. “I put love, the best ingredients and special intentions into the making of each candy.” 

He also puts hard work into it. By 4 a.m. you can find him in the kitchen of his Lafayette shop starting to turn out the nearly 800 candies he makes each day. To ensure a smooth consistency, the kitchen’s temperature is kept at a chilly 65 degrees. 

By 10 a.m. Jones is finished and peruses social media for marketing ideas to expand on his Cajun-ish and Creole-ish brands. Meeting the requests of a growing fan club, Louisiana Creole Pecan Candy also offers sweatshirts, tumblers, a Creole-ish barbeque sauce (his father’s recipe,) and the signature heritage soy candles and room spray made by Barbara Jones, that are a spot-on likeness to the particular smell of a hot batch of Jones’ praline mixture.

“These are other options that speak of our heritage,” Jones says of his growing product line. “So many of the younger generation don’t know anything about our culture. A lot of grandparents are dying, and they have not transferred the knowledge and history of who we are. One of the most fulfilling parts of my business is when customers say that my candies transport them back to their childhood, eating their mom’s or grandmother’s pralines. Makes me feel warm and bubbly.”