Exotic cz it tastes like that. Honestly, that is the first word that popped into my head once I took a bite.
How would you like to bite into a creamy, coconut middle surrounded by a layer of brittle, dark chocolate? This is quite an unassuming but delicious thing that is the result of a late afternoon food fantasy. This was just a test batch. But it came out just so damn fine.
A likely Easter treat, though not exclusively. Which is why I decided to post this today. In any case, this is a slightly messy dish and involves dipping your fingers and sometimes even your entire hand in chocolate (yeey!). The best part being, you get to lick it all off afterwards!
Ingredients
- 3 cups freshly grated coconut (alternatively 2 cups desiccated coconut + 1 cup water)
- 250ml sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup semolina (pan roasted)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3-4 cardamoms – outer shell removed and crushed
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 100g dark/milk chocolate
Method
- Combine the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, semolina, sugar and the cardamom in a pan over low heat.
- Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and the liquid has evaporated somewhat. At this point, the mixture comes off the sides of the pan. Do not let the bottom of the mixture burn.
- Take off heat once it is dry enough. Leave aside to cool.
- Once cool, form into balls. Refrigerate for about an hour.
- Double boil the chocolate till it melts.
- Take the balled up mixture out of the refrigerator, drop the one by one in icing sugar and then drop them in the melted chocolate. Roll it until the ball is fully chocolate coated. Drain off excess chocolate and place it on a sheet of polythene.
- Refrigerate till set.
The result is marvelous if I may say so myself. As someone who does not eat Bounty chocolates, the coconut doesn’t really bother me either. You do get subtle hints of coconut here and there, but over all, it is just a beautifully creamy filling coated with deliciously dark chocolate. The cardamom subtly comes through the coconut filing giving it an almost caramel-pistachio like flavour. It blends well with the otherwise monotone chocolate as weel, piercing through the rich, darkness.
Some Tips
- Be sure to not burn the coconut mixture. If even burnt the slightest, the entire filling becomes unusable. Scrape the bottom of the pan and be sure to blend the entire mixture as you stir it.
- Be super, SUPER careful when coating the coconut balls in chocolate. Being the impatient, hasty case that I am, I stuffed up my first 5 or 6. Gently roll the ball in the chocolate, taking care not to break it or wound it. Use a spoon, a flat one, not a fork. Once coated, gently lift it out with the spoon and with two fingers, gently lift it from spoon and place it on the cling wrap/polythene to avoid forming little puddles of chocolate which will solidify and mishape the ball. Take it from me, I learnt it the hard way.
- Always keep the chocolate coated balls on a polythene. This makes it easier to remove the sweets. Otherwise they tend to stick to the pan and ruin the entire thing.
- Always, always keep in the refrigerator. Especially in this heat, it is quick to melt. It was quite a struggle getting this photographed outdoors!
Not the healthiest of things so try not to eat too many. It’s easy to lose count when you start popping.