Coconut Ice

Now here is a sweet that is truly unjustly overlooked these days in favour of the gelatine and cheap sour-perfume scent of a conglomerate whose name I have been legally advised to remove. A marriage in pink and white; spring blossom and a wedding dress, powdered with confetti, a fine coconut ice is a joy for the eyes as well as the tongue. Even standard coconut refuseniks – and you know who you are – can’t fail to be enthralled by the perfect match of the sweet fondant with the slightly tart coconut pieces as it melts in the mouth, like two halves of a puzzle finding one another. It is both beautiful and useful.

Ingredients
9 oz sweetened condensed milk
9 oz icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
8 oz desiccated coconut
pink food colouring

Method

Mix together the condensed milk and icing sugar in a large bowl until very stiff. Add coconut. It will not want to go. Make it. Use your hands. If you wear rings, take them off at this point.

Split the mix into two and knead a very small amount of food colouring into one half. Dust a board with icing sugar, then shape each half into a smooth rectangle and place one on top of the other.

Roll with a rolling pin, reshaping with your hands every couple of rolls, until you have a rectangle of two-tone coconut ice about 1 inch thick.

Transfer to a plate and leave for at least 4 hrs or ideally overnight to set. This will keep for up to a month at least, if stored properly. If your coconut ice lasts for a month, you are not making it correctly.