Coconut chocolate balls



Before being covered in chocolate


This recipe happened by 'accident' - I was making cookie dough and I always have an egg white that I end up throwing away, I decided to try and make something with it. I belong to a Face Book cake group and threw the egg white at them and got bake a variety of suggestions - coconut was the one I went with and am so glad I did! So this is how this recipe transpired. I originally halved this recipe (I just had one egg white) - and just threw in coconut until it was thick enough to roll into balls, these are so delicious that I just had to make more.
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
450ml to 500ml designated coconut
White and Milk chocolate

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Boil without stirring, uncovered for about 5 minutes or until the syrup reaches 116degC on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat (the syrup should be thick but not coloured).
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then while the mixer is on slowly pour in the hot syrup, beat on high speed for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and has cooled down.
At this stage this mixture can be used to ice cupcakes.
Mix coconut into the meringue mixture and then cook in the microwave for about 3 - 5 minutes (stirring each minute), the mixture will thicken and you will smell the coconut.
Allow this to cool down.
Now the fun begins - roll balls, using about a heaped teaspoon of the mixture, place balls on a baking paper lined tray, (the mixture should not be too sticky and is easy to work with).
These balls of coconut set quite firmly, you can pop them in the fridge for a while before dipping/coating them in the chocolate.
Optional - cover/decorate with chopped nuts or more coconut or pipe a squiggle of chocolate on top.
Store in the refrigerator. You can freeze the balls before covering in chocolate too.



Finished