Homegrown Gourmet 7 - Maine Potato Candy

I am the originator of Homegrown Gourmet- I am proud of the event and love playing along with all the new rounds that each host comes up with. This round, hosted by Tempered Woman started off as no exception- POTATOES are such a universal food and I love that each region does it's own thing with them. Well, by the end- I hated this stupid round! HA!

I am not a native Mainer- also known as someone "from away." This was a big reason why I started Homegrown Gourmet- I wanted to learn more about the food from 2 states up from my childhood state. One of the first recipes I came across was something called "Needhams." And it was just a matter of time until I could whip this bad boy out.

In short, Needhams are a candy similar to Mounds- chocolate with sweet coconut goo inside. The difference you ask? Needhams also have Maine potatoes as a primary ingredient of the filling! Potato? Yup, potato. You actually don't taste the potato; it is used to make the filling smooth and thick. Don't worry, all the sugar and coconut drown out any veggie flavor! It is a totally original Maine recipe though.

SO... I searched for recipes without finding many variations. They all sounded so reasonable to make. Well boys and girls, was I sure wrong. Let's talk about what went wrong:

1. I couldn't find Maine potatoes- here in Maine.
   
2. I used shredded coconut instead of grated. This led to long strings of fibrous fruit in my candy. It was also impossible to cut.
   
3. The first batch of dipping chocolate loved to stick to EVERYTHING- oh yeah, except the candy filling.
   
4. The second batch of chocolate was a lighter shade and didn't harden right.
   
5. The big one- my filling goo never quite hardened which made it impossible to slice, handle, or dip.

I will say, they were tasty. But a royal pain in the butt. I don't know what went wrong, but at least I can now say that I have made this official Maine recipe! Maybe I should have submitted my potato-wrapped cod instead....


Maine Needhams

• 3/4 C. Plain Mashed Maine Potatoes
  
• 1 Stick Salted Butter
  
• 2 Lbs. Confectioners Sugar (I only used 1.25 lbs.- maybe that's where things went wrong.)
  
• 1 8 oz. Package of Grated Coconut (Don't use shredded like I did.)
  
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 12 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  
• 5 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate
  
• 1/2 Block Paraffin Wax (Yup, wax- like for candles. I used 1/2 block Gulf Wax.)

1. Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a large saucepan.
   
2. Stir in the potato, sugar, coconut, and vanilla.
   
3. Pour the mixture on a wax paper-lined or greased cookie sheet. Cool for a million hours in hopes that it will harden. Yeah right.
   
4. When the filling is cooled, heat a double boiler on medium heat or put a bowl on top of a saucepan, again on medium heat. Melt the wax in the bowl.
   
5. When the wax in mostly melted, add in the chocolate and stir to melt.
   
6. While the chocolate melts, this is where you are supposed to cut the now hardened filling into small squares. After 24 hours in the fridge, I had coconut mush. After multiple hours in the freezer, I had slightly harder coconut mush.
   
7. In theory, this is where you use a small fork or toothpick to pick up the filling square and dip it in the chocolate, coating it. Then you put it on wax paper to let it solidify.
   
8. Or, if you're me, you pour half of the chocolate on top of the slab, let it cool, flip the whole enchilada onto another piece of wax paper and then pour on the rest of the chocolate. Then you attempt to cut the whole mess apart 4 days later and pour chocolate in the middle. When that doesn't work, you dip the mangled hunks of candy in the new batch of melted chocolate, essentially double dipping the whole thing and then dry on a piece of waxed paper. You make 10 candies, curse at the whole operation, and then throw the rest out. The end.