Alma’s Coconut Candy

I know the holidays are over and we’re all try to make better eating choices but I had to share this recipe from my husband’s grandmother. For years I have been hearing about “Gram’s Coconut Candy”. I have a cookbook that contains all the recipes she had in her file and one of the recipes is for Alma’s Coconut Candy. As the Valentine’s Day approached my husband and I decided to give it a try.

We knew it wouldn’t be the same for two reasons, first of all Gram always used fresh coconut! I didn’t have any fresh coconut on hand so I had to use dried coconut. Second all of many of Gram’s recipes didn’t have exact measurements and her recipe for coconut candy was no exception. For example she would say “add a bit of vanilla” or “add confectioners sugar”. I’m sure it made perfect sense to her as she had made the coconut candy numerous times before. I’ve had wonderful results with other recipes such as Beach Plum Jelly, which had very little directions or measurements, just an equal amount of sugar and juice.

After some online searching I actually found a recipe very similar to Gram’s but with some measurements. By combining the two recipes we came up with a wonderful treat to enjoy for Valentine’s Day. When making these coconut candies you have to work quickly as the coconut cream part dries out very quickly.The coconut confectioners sugar dough is also very stiff to work with.  It helps to have another set of hands to work the dough and to roll the balls. It would also help to have more chocolate melted that the original recipe called for as I ran out of chocolate halfway through the process. We were all pleased with the result and will try it again using fresh coconut.

Alma’s Coconut Candy

Ingredients:

3 Egg whites, beaten very stiff
2 pounds of confectioner’s sugar
¼ pound of grated coconut
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 boxes semi-sweet chocolate
2-4 Tbsp. Butter (Gram’s recipe actually called for paraffin wax but I opted for butter)

Directions:

Mix the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, coconut and egg white together. Roll into small balls and let stand for ½ hour.

Meanwhile melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler. When the chocolate is cool dips the coconut balls into the chocolate, Set the balls on a cooling rack to harden. Once the balls cooled store in a cool place or in the refrigerator.

The flavor comes out if the coconut candies are allowed to sit for a day or so. I imagine if you used fresh coconut these candies would be even better.