This is my prize-winning Coconut Ice recipe, which made me almost as much of a Show Queen as my precious cow 767. It has been entered in many agricultural shows, and won me incredible trophies. As well as the 22 Blue Ribbons and Prize Certificates, this recipe has netted me (among other things…) a tea-towel set, a glass cheese board, a clock set into the tummy of a plastic mouse, and the greatest one of all – a bottle of non-alcoholic sparking wine with a faux French Champagne label that made us all VERY excited. (None of us could read French and the label was tres` impressive!) It tasted so bad that it refreshed the droughty grass outside my kitchen window.
That’s okay. I always got to eat all of the pieces that didn’t make it into the competitions, and that was the sweetest reward of all. This is a lovely recipe – easy for non-cooks, and with great keeping qualities. Which is a stupid thing to say really, because it never lasts long enough to prove those qualities. Make a batch of this and you’ll see what I mean.
Ingredients:
500g icing sugar (4 cups of confectioners sugar for my USA friends), 250g unsweetened dessicated coconut (2 and 1/2 cups), 1/2 cup condensed milk, one egg white, 60g copha (1/3 cup of vegetable shortening), vanilla essence, pink food colouring.
Method:
Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, and then add the coconut and gently mix through to combine.
Melt your copha and allow to cool slightly.
Whisk the egg white just a little, and add the egg and condensed milk to your dry ingredients. Then add your copha and a slug of vanilla essence ( a teaspoon or so should do it).
Mix until well combined into a firm, moist mass. Divide the mixture in half, and colour one batch a cheerful pink with your food colouring.
Press the white mixture into the bottom of a baking paper lined tin. Smooth out with the back of a spoon, and then gently press the pink layer over the top. Smooth and press in well with your spoon and then refrigerate until set (about 2 hours). Remove from tin and cut into bars or small squares. It will only need to be refrigerated if you live in a hot climate. Or you could just eat it all…
Perfect for gifts, or with a cup of tea as a happy-making treat.
