Turtle Time

Every year I always do a bit of Christmas baking and candy making.  I am always on the hunt for a fun or different recipes to try.  Several years ago, I bought an Amish cookbook from one of the Amish shops just south of our home.  In the cookbook I found one of the most unusual recipes for turtles that I had even seen.

I have gotten MANY follow up questions about boiling the can of sweet and condensed milk.  Here is what I do.  Remove the label.  Put the UNOPENED can in a water bath and boil for five, yes five, hours.  You will need to add more water every half hour or so.  The can needs to be always covered with water.  I boil two cans at once.  I use one immediately.  The other can sits on the shelf until I make turtles again…sometimes it sits on the shelf until Easter….The “carmel” in the can will stay the same for a few months (I’ve left it there for up to 10 months and it was fine)

The turtles aren’t the most beautiful candy but they are delicious….Here’s the recipe.
Put a knife or wire rack in the bottom of a cooking pot.  Put a can of sweet and condensed milk in the pan.  Cover it with water and boil for five hours.  You will need to keep adding water as the can must always be covered.  Let the can cool.  The sweet and condensed milk will be a golden brown color and will be just like carmel. 

Open the can.  Spread about a teaspoon of carmel over a pecan half.  Put another pecan half on top of it and set it aside.  After you have all of the can used, melt 6 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 stick of paraffin wax.   Dip the pecan in the chocolate mixture, lift out and place on wax paper to dry.

Every time I ever tell anyone about this recipe, they are surprised that you can boil the sweet and condensed milk…but you can and it works great!  These are always the first candy to be gone on Christmas day….if they even make it to Christmas!