I got a serious craving for what my family has always called Christmas candy. It’s kind of like coconut creme dipped candies. I got out the recipe card, went to the store for the ingredients, and started making it. The recipe calls for paraffin to be put in with the melted chocolate so it doesn’t melt in your hand so readily. I couldn’t find paraffin at the grocery store. In fact, the customer service ladies said they didn’t have it. Is that a specialty item?
Anyway, I was trying to make it as fast as I could. I made the insides in the KitchenAid mixer. That was way easier than stirring it myself. When I rolled the middles, my hands were a lot less sticky than usual, which was nice. I dipped them in the chocolate a little too quickly because they were still soft. It was a hassle, but not a serious problem. What was a serious problem is how HUGE I made the candy balls. It was only after I had dipped them and stepped back to survey my work that I realized they were twice as big as they should be. And I don’t know if it was because of the missing paraffin or what, but the chocolate coating was THICK!
So what I ended up with is not Christmas candy, but GIANT SUGAR BOMBS. I should hand them out to my kids at the end of each class to get back at those teachers who are always giving kids candy right before they come to me. hehehe
Heh. Overzealous candy maker…they always turn out huge when you make them off a craving…that’s just the way it is…
Oh, and two things: Parrafin is also called Gulf Wax (brand name) and it’s usually in the baking isle if you live in a part of the country where grandmas still can their own veggies (which I’m guessing you don’t), and if you can’t find parrafin, also in the baking isle, you can find something called Almond Bark. It comes in an oreo-looking package, and the chocolate is in cubes kind like they popped them out of an ice-cube tray. It’s actually chocolate that already has some parrafin added in. HOWEVER, I don’t know if it’s made in DARK chocolate (which is CRITICAL to the recipe). I’ll stop yelling now.
Almond Bark…is there anything it can’t do? While that would be the most helpful item for your candy making, from one East Coast dweller to another, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. WalMart, Giant, Food Lion, you name it, I’ve looked, both in VI and NC to no avail. Maybe you’ll have more success being farther north. Good luck. The Sugar Bombs look bombtastic, by the way (not to be confused with bethtastic).
I don’t care how much chocolate and sugar you dump in those things – they are STILL going to taste like coconut. You can’t disguise that flavor with anything. (I would suggest just leaving it out.)
Let’s see, with no coconut, that would leave a half pound of butter, a can of sweetened condensed milk and a pound of powdered sugar, all just mixed and rolled into balls…
Truly bombtastic…
You brat! I just bought you a half-pound box of coconut creams at church this morning. Now you probably have no need for them – you must be half sick by now! I will be glad to try one of your creations, but you better bring me a glass of milk to go with it.
Your “middles” are so big! Everyone knows it’s 3-ounce balls crazy man – that’s the size of the middles according to the blue-haired lady expert at my church. Your balls (I mean middles) are WAY too big!
I’ve never heard of “Christmas Candy” – is that a Lutheran tradition or a Nebraska thing? How is it different from what my church ladies make?