Responses to "Beginning of the End" and Making Candy with Instant Potato Flakes

Thank you all for your kind comments yesterday.  I really appreciate them.  You have blessed my life.  

I have no plans to take the blog down.  We need as many people to read, learn, and prepare as possible, and we all need good food and medicine.   That being said, I believe we're all more than a little disappointed at how George Orwell's 1984 apparently isn't the work of fiction we were told it was.  I read daily of websites and blogs being taken down by the hosting company.  I don't think this blog is big enough to attract the attention of The Powers That Be, but what do I know?  Even though we know history repeats and we have really interesting times in our future, one year ago most of us couldn't anticipate we'd be where we are now.  If I feel the blog has to be taken down, I'll try to give as much warning as possible.  In the meantime, I will be trying to put it together in book form.  

And there truly are many topics I still want to research and write about.  There is always so much to learn.

 

Anyway, enough of that.  I've got a couple of recipes here for candy that you can make with instant potato flakes.  If you like Mounds and/or fudge, you'll be happy.  If not, there are other candy recipes on the blog.

Mounds Copycat

¼ cup hot mashed potatoes

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

2 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup chocolate chips

Combine the potatoes and powdered sugar well and then stir in the coconut.  Spread this mixture in a bread pan and chill until firm.  Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler and spread half the melted chocolate over the top.  Chill until firm and cut into squares.  Remove the squares from the pan and turn them over.  Spread the remaining chocolate on the bottom of the squares.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Deluxe Mounds

¼ cup butter, melted

¼ cup hot plain mashed potatoes

2 cups powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup chocolate chips

Combine the butter and mashed potatoes.  Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and coconut and spread the mixture in a bread pan.  Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. 

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Cut the chilled coconut mixture into small squares.  Spread half the melted chocolate on top and return to the refrigerator to chill again for about 30 minutes.  Remove from the refrigerator and flip the candy over.  Spread the remaining chocolate on the bottom of the candy.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Almond Joy variation:  Press a toasted almond onto the coconut mixture before covering with chocolate.

Potato Fudge

¼ cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted

¼ cup unseasoned mashed potatoes, room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 ¾-2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons milk

Finely chopped nuts, optional

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder and mashed potatoes.  Stir in melted butter, vanilla, and salt.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of milk.  Sprinkle ¼ cup powdered sugar on the countertop and place the mixture on top.  Knead the dough until it is smooth, adding more powdered sugar if necessary.  Roll into a log about 1 inch in diameter.  Roll in the chopped nuts and wrap in waxed paper.  Chill in the refrigerator about an hour and then cut into ½” thick slices.  Makes about 2 dozen.

Links to related posts:

Beyond Mashed Potatoes:  Seven Really Diverse Ways to Use Instant Mashed Potato Flakes

Coconut Oil

All about Cocoa Powder