Bordeaux Candies

Folks-
My mom gave me a small bag of homemade Bordeaux candies yesterday, along with the recipe. They taste a lot like something from See's, but not exactly. Using the right chocolate probably makes these a whole lot better than what you're likely to find in a candy store. I'm sure she used Guittard milk chocolate chips to coat hers, that's her favorite brand.
I'll try this recipe soon, but until then, here's her recipe:

Bordeaux Candy

1 Cup light brown sugar

1/2 Cup butter

1/4 Cup whipping cream

1/2 Teaspoon instant coffee

Pinch salt

2 Cups sifted powdered sugar

12 oz chocolate

Melt butter and brown sugar together in a heavy pan. Bring to a boil for two minutes. Add whipping cream, coffee crystals, and salt and return to a boil. Stir constantly for 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Let cool for ten minutes. Mix in powdered sugar. Cool until mixture can hold the shape of a ball. Form mixture into one inch balls and coat with melted chocolate. Cool on waxed paper.

Old Time Fudge

Folks-

The computer was on, so I figured I should power out another Zap 190 recipe. This one I intend to try soon, only I want to try it using whipping cream instead of milk. If I try it, I'll post the results!

-Edly

Old Time Fudge
P. Jones

Ingredients:
2 Cups Sugar
¾ Cup Milk
2 Squares (2 Oz) Unsweetened Chocolate, broken up
1 Teaspoon Light Corn Syrup
2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
½ Cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts (optional)

Line a 9x5x3” loaf pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set pan aside. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the sugar, milk, chocolate, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Avoid splashing the mixture on the sides of the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until a thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft-ball.) The mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add butter and vanilla but do not stir! Cool without stirring to lukewarm (118 degrees.) Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until fudge is just beginning to thicken; add nuts if desired. Continue to beat until the fudge is very thick, and just begins to lose its gloss. Quickly turn the fudge onto the prepared pan. While warm, score it into 1” squares. When the candy is firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan; cut candy into squares. Store tightly covered.

Easy Ice Cream

Folks-
I made this for the first time today, varying the recipe that I found on a British website. I found following their directions exactly caused the ice cream base to be much too sweet (probably due to differences in measurements.)
You do need an ice cream freezer to make this.

Ingredients:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Salt (added 6/16/2011)
Optional (for Chocolate): 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Mix all ingredients together and put into the ice cream freezer and freeze according to directions.
*Edited 6/16/2011: When making this tonight I put in about a quarter teaspoon salt and this improved the flavor. This may now be the best ice cream recipe I've ever tried. At least that's what my kids say!

Ed's Truffles

Folks-
The main reason I'm writing this recipe blog is to keep track of the recipes I use and like. Since it's Christmas week, I'll post two today, and perhaps more later this week. I'll start by posting my Truffle recipe. I got it from the Betty Crocker's cookbook, and then started fiddling with it to make it my own. The secret is in the notes at the end (hint: This is a versatile recipe!)

Ingredients:

6 oz Chocolate (Semi-sweet, dark, or milk)
1/4 C Whipping Cream
2 T Melted Butter
1 C Chocolate Chips (Semi-sweet or milk)
2 T Vegetable Shortening

Melt the 6 oz of chocolate over a double boiler or in a glass bowl in a microwave oven (run the microwave starting at 30 seconds and then progressively shorter time periods, stirring between each heating cycle.) Mix in the melted butter and whipping cream until the mixture is smooth, and pour into a buttered baking pan. Refrigerate until hard, and then cut into 1" cubes. Melt 1 C chocolate chips and mix in shortening. Dip chocolate centers into the melted chocolate and fish it out with forks, placing them on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate until hard. Best served at room temperature.

Notes: This recipe is very versatile. You can change the flavor by changing the kind of chocolate, or by adding flavorings. One thing I have noticed is that white chocolate tends not to harden as well as other kinds, I recommend halving the amount of whipping cream and melted butter if using white chocolate.
Mocha Truffles: Use semi-sweet chocolate and add 2 T Instant Coffee crystals to the whipping cream.
Mint Truffles: Add a few drops mint extract to the whipping cream. Seal finished truffles in a container. DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER TRUFFLES! The flavor is so strong that it will overpower the flavor of other truffles and you can easily end up with your box of mixed truffles being a box of mint truffles.
Orange or Strawberry: Add up to 1/2 t flavoring to the whipping cream before mixing it into the chocolate.
Mexican Chocolate: Add 1/4 t Cinnamon and 1/2 T finely chopped almonds to the melted chocolate before adding in the melted butter and whipping cream.
Conversion tip: 1 Cup of chocolate chips is 6 oz. Feel free to use baking chocolate, eating chocolate, or chocolate chips in this recipe!
The coating for these truffles is so good that I use it for almost all candies that need a chocolate coating. I have never had it separate out or bloom.

I'll be posting my dad's Chili recipe soon, and then I'll start posting the recipes from the cookbook I compiled with my old co-workers (The Zap 190 L.O.S. Cookbook!)

-Edly