Needham aka Potato Candy

Lobster and Needham candy, savory and sweet, foods well renowned in Maine. My mother bought me a Needham candy to go along with the lobster (as pictured below). Can you believe this candy is actually made out of potato?!

   

Filled with coconut flakes and drenched in chocolate, this was sure going to be a must-try and dessert after filling my stomach with two fresh, whole lobsters into my stomach individually during lunch at Docks Seafood in Portland, Maine, until I ate too much and couldn't finish the potato fries that came along with the meal and the Needham candy, so I packed them all into a to-go box saved for the long road trip to Boston, MA and when I got hungry I remembered the Needham candy and...

all along it was thrown away by my father at the restaurant because he thought the to-go box had nothing in it. Surprise!

Not. 

So, the picture where I'm holding that Needham candy is looks only... I never got to try it. So sad! And now I'm all the way back in California and 3,145 miles away from Needham candy and thus my only hope was to make it myself and hopefully gain an understanding of what that delicious sweet was all about.

   

Here's my attempt at emulating the distinctive Maine taste. 

In the end, I really enjoyed the sugary chocolate meets coconut taste. Despite the fact that potato is added, the powdered sugar takes away all the potato flavor, so the Needham basically tastes like a really sweet chocolate plus coconut brownie. Such a lovely taste of Maine!

Soufflé Pancakes

I miss eating Apple Brandy soufflé pancakes at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, CA. How I miss the light, fluffy, eggy, soft, sweet but not too sweet, fat but not too fat, basically not your typical IHOP pancake... the soufflé pancake. This is MY breakfast on a Thursday morning. Oh I'm fancy huh? 

Ingredients: 

3 eggs, separated

• ½ cup soy milk

• 2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp sugar

• ¼ tsp salt
• Fruit for decorating

How to Make:

1. Beat egg yolks, soy milk, melted butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt.

2. In an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

3. Fold in the egg whites into the batter mixture.

4. Spread oil onto a cast iron skillet. Turn to medium heat.

5. Pour batter into cast iron skillet and heat for 5 minutes, up to the point where the bottom of the batter has solidified and cooked firm. 

6. Place into broiler on low heat and cook for 4 minutes or until light brown.

7. Serve with a dust of powdered sugar, honey, and slice of apple! 

My end result: the pancake wasn't as puffy as that of Bette's, most likely because I didn't add any fruit to the batter and/ or maybe because of the soy milk I used? I have yet to try this again... on a Sunday Thursday morning sumptuous brunch.