An Itinerant Mind

Coconut Ice, Cherries and Chocolate

Coconut Ice is a really easy to make sweet (candy). Basically it involves mixing together desiccated coconut, icing sugar and condensed milk. Press the mixture into a suitable receptacle, I use a square casserole dish. Cover it, I wrap it in cling film, then let it set in the fridge for 24 hours. Cut into bite size chunks and store in a sealable container.

The recipe I use gives the measurements as 250g (9 oz.) condensed milk 250g (9 oz.) Icing Sugar and 200g (7 oz.) desiccated coconut, different sources give slightly different measurements. The icing sugar needs to be sieved when you use it.

So I made some, but the cans of condensed milk are 379g (about 13 oz.). I had no use for leftover condensed milk at the time, so I recalculated the other ingredients accordingly, using the proportions 5:4 for the amount of icing sugar/condensed milk to desiccated coconut, which meant I used 300g (11 oz.)

Ah!, but I wasn't finished. I bought some glacéed cherries, which i halved and laid out over the set coconut ice. I also bought two blocks of milk cooking chocolate and a carton of single cream. The chocolate I broke into small pieces, and melted in a Pyrex bowl over a saucepan of warm water. When it was melted, I stirred in cream, a little at a time. I also added a small shake of icing sugar to the mix, perhaps an ounce. When it was a homogeneous liquid, I poured it all over the cherries resting on the coconut ice. I was glad that I'd bought two blocks of chocolate, because It covered everything perfectly, the cherries just submerged.

Now it's sitting, again covered in cling film, and will shortly be departing for some more fridge time. Tomorrow I will cut it up and try it. Looking forwards to that.