History
Needhams are an early 20th-century Maine confection from the Down East coast, named after either George Needham (a 19th-century Maine politician) or Charles Needham (a Maine confectioner; both claims persist). The defining trick is the mashed potato in the fondant centre, a Depression-era substitute for more expensive marshmallow or egg-white centres. Wilbur's of Maine in Freeport makes the canonical commercial version; small Portland confectioners and bakeries replicate the format every Christmas. Outside Maine, the needham is unknown; inside Maine, it's the lunch-box Christmas treat.
Common allergens: Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 medium baking potato (about 200g), peeled and quartered
- Pinch salt
- 60g unsalted butter, softened
- 750g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 400g good dark chocolate (60 to 70% cocoa), chopped
- 30g paraffin wax or 30g coconut oil (for the chocolate snap)
Method
- Boil the potato in salted water 15 minutes until soft. Drain well.
- Mash the potato through a ricer or sieve into a smooth lump-free puree. Measure out 100g (the recipe needs exactly this; spare potato is for the cook).
- Beat the warm potato with the softened butter in a stand mixer.
- Beat in icing sugar, 200g at a time, until you have a thick stiff fondant. Beat in vanilla.
- Stir in the desiccated coconut by hand.
- Press the mixture into a 20x20cm tray lined with parchment, smoothing the top.
- Refrigerate 2 hours until firm.
- Turn out and cut into 3cm squares.
- Melt the dark chocolate with the paraffin wax (or coconut oil) in a double boiler, stirring to glossy. The wax gives the snap; coconut oil is the modern substitute.
- Spear each square with a toothpick or fork. Dip into the melted chocolate to coat fully; lift, tap to drip excess.
- Set on parchment to cool and set, 30 minutes. Store in an airtight tin between layers of parchment; needhams keep 2 weeks at room temperature.
Tip from the editors. Use exactly 100g mashed potato; more makes the centre crumble, less makes it cement. The potato gives the unique melt-in-the-mouth fondant texture.
Where to eat needham
Needham in Portland
Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Portland. See the Portland signature dishes guide for the canonical version.
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