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I wanted to see if I could replicate my favorite brown sugar bon bon to share as a holiday treat and the result was a perfect Copycat See’s Bordeaux!
Have you ever had a See’s Bordeaux? I grew up on that stuff. Every Christmas and Easter there would be no shortage of See’s candy around us, and I would always go for the Bordeaux first. I’ll take this creamy, rich, sugary bon bon over anything with nuts or caramel. I’m one of those uniquely talented folks who can identify every See’s candy from the outside before even taking a bite. I had to avoid biting into that nasty one that tastes like fruitcake, afterall. When I figured out I could actually replicate my favorite bon bon from the comfort of my own kitchen, I was a little thrilled, to put it mildly.
The inside consists of brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and coffee. No wonder it tastes good, right? Those four ingredients alone could satisfy every sweet tooth craving I’ll ever have!
I’m not the best chocolate dipper in the world. In fact, I think I kind of suck at it. Because my first dip wasn’t very pretty, I ended up throwing them back in for a double dip and that did the trick! I didn’t have chocolate cake sprinkles like you see on the real Bordeaux’s but knew I had to pretty them up a bit, so I just put my extra chocolate in a plastic bag, snipped off the corner, and drizzled it on top. Perfection.
Before I took my final photos, I threw my dried bon bons in the freezer with all of my other holiday treats. I can’t remember if i simply ran out of time or ran out of daylight, but the final photos didn’t happen on the day I made them. Pity, because once you stick them in the freezer and then pull them out, the chocolate loses its shine, but we’ll just pretend I didn’t do that, mmmm kay?
The inside is a wonderful, sweet, rich, creamy, naughty center. Again, had I not been in a rush and actually allowed these beauties to come to room temperature instead of cutting a frozen one in half, they would have looked even more awesome, but I’m not too proud to admit my mistakes! It didn’t stop me from eating them either!
Be sure to scroll down past the recipe to see all of my past year’s holiday treats too!!!
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Pin ItCopycat See’s Bordeaux
Equipment
Ingredients
Inside filling:
- 1 cup golden brown sugar packed, C&H brand recommended, other brands may result in a more grainy texture
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee (finely ground) Optional, See's Bordeaux does not have coffee, but I liked the flavor it added (I used Starbucks Via)
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Outer chocolate coating:
- 12 ounces dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Using a heavy bottom saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup golden brown sugar together over medium high heat and bring to boil. Allow to boil for about two minutes.
- Stir in 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon instant coffee (finely ground) (if using), and a pinch of salt and allow to come to a boil again for about 30 seconds while stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar to mixture and stir in well until a consistent dough is formed. Chill until mixture holds shape similar to play dough, about 2 hours.
- Roll sugar dough into 1-inch balls and set on a wax paper lined sheet. Freeze for about 10 minutes for easier dipping.
- Melt 12 ounces dark chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter at 50% power in 1 minute increments in microwave, stirring after each minute, until melted.
- Dip candy balls into melted chocolate and allow to set on the wax paper. Either sprinkle with chocolate cake sprinkles or pipe a very thin stream of chocolate on top, if desired.
- Store in airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
After refrigeration when I took them out to roll them, they are rock solid in the bowl. How do I get them creamy to use?
How long did you refrigerate? I think if you set them out at room temp and keep checking on them, they will come to the right consistency of play-doh.
A perfect recipe . Thank you, everyone who tried them …loved them.
A great addition to Christmas recipes!
Do you know if I could substitute half and half for the heavy cream?
It might work but I’ve never tried it.
I had to add a little bit more powdered sugar to make the dough play-doh consistency but OMG these tasted amazing! Thank you!
I tried this recipe, as I think the bordeaux is the best piece in a See’s box. I found the recipe easy to follow, and oh sooo good.
Hi! I absolutely love these! I’ve made them multiple times and they’re super delicious!
I just have one question, this is my fourth time making these and for some reason, this time the dough combination became very powdery. My best guess is that the liquid evaporated because I usually use the regular burner, but it was dirty, so instead I used a power burner.
Do you have any suggestions on how to fix it? I don’t want to throw what I have away, it would waste.
Thank you!
I’m not sure how to fix it, but would agree that this recipe can be rather sensitive to cooking temperature.
I tried this today and something definitely went wrong, but I can’t place it.
It came out soooo crumbly. I didn’t sift the sugar to measure it, so maybe I had too much sugar? I could have overcooked it too.
If you have temperatures, that would be super helpful.
Could have been either. I need to make these again and be more specific with the temperatures. I’m a much better cook than when I originally made these so I think the recipe could definitely use a refresh.
Hello!
I followed the recipe for the 1/2 batch; initially, it was extremely hard to mix the sifted powder sugar in, and I ended up mixing it with my hands. The mix never felt like playdough, unfortunately. I finally got it formed into a large firm ball of dough and put it into the fridge, checked on it an hour later, and the big ball of dough was super dry, so I pulled it out, grabbed off chunks of it mixed each chunk with my fingers, seem to bring the mixture back to life a little bit, after working with it I was able to make little balls. I dipped them in chocolate and stuck them in the refrigerator to firm up. They looked good, and the taste was good, that said I felt it was a little more grainy than it should be, even using C&H sugar. Any thoughts to share? Thanks!
What altitude are you at? I wonder if that makes a difference. The only other thing I can think of is that they could have boiled just a bit longer to allow the sugar to melt/dissolve? Either that or they got too hot?