Coconut Ice
Submitted by lbates
Traditional British coconut ice with a white and pink layered look. Just sugar, water, desiccated coconut, and vanilla cooked to soft-ball stage and pressed into squares. A classic Christmas sweet that’s dead simple to make.
YIELD
2 dozenPREP
10 minCOOK
35 minREADY
1 hrsCoconut ice is one of those old-school British sweets that every nan seems to have made at least once, and for good reason. It’s pure sugar-and-coconut nostalgia in every pink-and-white square.
You cook sugar and water to soft-ball stage, stir in desiccated coconut and vanilla, then pour half into a lined tin. Tint the rest pink with a drop of food colouring, layer it on top, press it firm, and let it set. Done.
The texture is fudgy and slightly grainy with little shreds of coconut throughout. It’s the kind of sweet that shows up at Christmas fairs, village fetes, and school bake sales across the UK, and it disappears from the plate faster than anything else on the table.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a sugar thermometer if you have one. Hitting the soft-ball stage is everything here, and guessing gets tricky.
- Stir the mixture until it genuinely starts to thicken. If you pour it too early, it won’t set properly.
- Go easy on the food colouring. You want a gentle pastel pink, not bright magenta. One or two drops is plenty.
- Line the tin with non-stick paper so the coconut ice lifts out cleanly. Without it, you’ll be chipping it out in pieces.
Ingredients
Directions
First line a 7 inch square tin with non-stick paper.
Put the granulated sugar and water into a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan and heat gently, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and let it simmer steadily until the temperature reaches 240 degrees F on a sugar thermometer, or a little of the syrup dropped into a cup of cold water forms a soft ball.
Remove from the heat immediately and add the vanilla essence and dessicated coconut.
Stir the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it begins to thicken and set, then pour half of it into the prepared tin and smooth it level.
Colour the remaining half pale pink with a drop or two of the colouring, then pour this on top of the white coconut ice, spreading it to the edges and making sure it’s level.
Press it all down quite firmly with the back of a spoon, and leave it to harden.
Turn the coconut ice out and cut it into squares using a sharp knife.
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