Beijinho de Coco (Little Coconut Kisses).
Valentine's Day did not happen in my house this year. Most of the time it is a non-event anyway but this year I had pottery class. Unwilling to skip the last class of the session, I left dinner in the fridge and a card on the counter before heading out.
However, the holiday spirit was riding high in pottery with a bunch of snacks set up on one of the tables (yes, people eat in the studio all of the time and no, it's not weird). One such treat was a tray of beijinho de coco a.k.a. little coconut kisses made by a woman from Brazilian. Small little bites that taste like coconut pudding rolled in sugar. Unable to resist, I asked how to make them and here is that recipe.
Ingredients:
- 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup of shredded coconut (more if you decide to roll in it)
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extra
- decorative sugar (optional)
- mini paper cups
Steps:
- In a non-stick saucepan over medium heat, combine the condensed milk, coconut and butter together.
- Stir constantly with a plastic spatula or wooden spoon for 7-10 minutes. At this point, the mixture should be thick enough that it sticks together and not to the pan. You can test this by lifting the pan off the heat and tilting it to one side.
- Once ready, remove the mixture from the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
- Pour into a shallow, greased dish and allow it to cool to room temperature (or stick it in the fridge to speed things up).
- When the mixture has cooled, use your hands to roll into balls (about a teaspoon and a half per ball) and coat with either decorative sugar or more coconut.
- Place into mini paper cups and serve.
Makes about 30. Apparently, the traditional way to serve these is rolled in coconut and stuck with a clove but I think you can play around with the design to suit the occasion (hence the hearts). Beijos!
