An easy to make gift for the coconut lover in your life.

Last year I shared a family favourite recipe for coconut ice and it was at that point that I discovered that coconut ice is not something known and enjoyed all over the world! It’s funny isn’t it, when you’ve grown up with something you don’t always realise that it’s not a universal thing.

This year I’m back with another way to present the same basic coconut ice recipe - cover it in chocolate!

Now my disclaimer at this point is that I don’t actually like coconut ice myself. I’m not a big coconut fan, a tiny bit here and there is ok but I’m never going to choose to wolf down a whole load of the stuff! My mum was a huge fan though and when I was younger I often made her a batch either at Christmas or for her birthday. My husband also like it and has confirmed by extensive testing that this is a good recipe!

Coconut Ice Recipe:

Makes approximately 60-70 balls of coconut ice

• 200g condensed milk

• 225g icing sugar / powdered sugar

• 175g desiccated coconut

And for this chocolate covered variety you wil also need:

• 600g Chocolate - I used a very inexpensive supermarket brand milk chocolate

• A little extra desiccated coconut or sprinkles/vermicelli

You DO need to be accurate with the ingredients which is why I’ve not converted this to cup measurements as I would normally, but it is really simple.

You will also need:

• mixing bowl

• wooden spoon

• extra icing/powdered sugar

• baking parchment/greaseproof paper

• 2 forks - little cake forks are ideal but any will work

• microwave or a saucepan and heatproof bowl

There are more details and a few photos showing how to make this on my basic coconut ice recipe if you need a bit of reassurance that you are doing it right - it is super simple though.

Put the condensed milk into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix well. Then add the dessicated coconut and mix again.

This will form a really quite stiff mixture.

Get a little of the icing/powdered sugar on your hands to stop it all getting too sticky and roll the mixture into balls, about an inch or so in diameter. You are aiming for a size similar to a Lindor chocolate (if you have those where you are in the world) You can actually make these any sized but small bite sized seems to be easier for people to eat. In my photo below you can see a mix of white and pink balls. This is because coconut ice is normally in slabs with a mix of pink and white and I was making a double batch. Again, just check out my basic no fuss coconut ice recipe from last year for more about that. But if you are covering the coconut ice with chocolate there is no need to colour any of it unless you want to of course.

Melt the chocolate, either gently in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

Prepare a production line with your melted chocolate, the pre rolled coconut ice balls and a container lined with a piece of baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

Drop a coconut ice ball into the chocolate and give it a bit of a roll about with the forks so it’s completely covered and then place it onto the baking parchment/greaseproof paper. Sprinkle with a little extra desiccated coconut or sprinkles or vermicelli if you like but you’ll need to be quick before the chocolate starts to set. Coat 4 or 5 balls with chocolate and then sprinkle them with a topping, then move on and coat the next 4 or 5, and so on.

You can put them into the fridge to let the chocolate set completely, or just leave them in a cool place for an hour or two and then pop them into cellophane bags or jars ready to gift.

These will keep for a month, I like to keep them in the fridge just to be on the safe side but if they end up out of the fridge from Christmas eve to Christmas day they’ll be just fine.

Not a healthy treat by any stretch of the imagination, but an indulgent sweet treat for any lover of coconut in your life.
A little bag of chocolate covered coconut ice would make a lovely token gift when you just want a little something for someone or as an addition to a hamper or gift basket.

Julie

I’ll be sharing this idea at some of these link ups