This is one of my guilty pleasures. It has been since I was in primary school, I occasionally drive a 30-35 mins trip from home just to buy sweet treats like coconut candy, sisi pelebe, shukushuku, gurundy and baked chinchin… I always carry these treats with me as gifts for friends when I travel outside the country.

Making coconut candy balls requires paying attention especially when you are not using any nifty temperature gauging tools. It can easily go south. Coconut candy is a balance of sweet, toasty, crunchy and slightly chewy but it should not be hard. If the sugar burns, you will get bitter hard candy. The ingredients are basic and the procedure is simple, just keep an eye on it.

Notes: The ingredients for making coconut candy are basic. All you really is shredded coconut and sugar. I include salt to help balance out the flavours. Some recipes call for lemon juice but if you want the authentic street taste, you’d skip lemon. Shredded fresh coconut can be replaced with packaged dessicated coconut.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp salt

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Procedure

• In a pan on medium add the sugar and salt and bring it to melt, stir as it melts.
• Once the sugar has taken on a dark brown colour and slightly starts to boil add the coconut
• Turn the heat down and keep stirring. The fresh coconut will release moisture into the sugar, it will slightly simmer and then start to clump together.
• Turn the heat off, pour the coconut into a lined or greased tray and leave it to cool for 5-7 minutes. To make it warm enough to handle.
• Scoop warm coconut into your palms and roll into balls, place them spaced slightly apart so it doesn’t clump together. Leave to cool completely.
• Enjoy

• Snacks