So we have all tried fudge at one time or another. Everyone has a different opinion on how it's made or what ingredients are used but the most popular is obviously chocolate. My family has a fudge recipe using marshmallow fluff and it's really good but you never know, some may disagree. Nuts or no nuts, it doesn't really matter to me but I wanted to make something a little different. I wanted something sweet but I quite honestly didn't want chocolate. Caramel is my favorite confection of all time but I didn't want caramel either. What I decided on was something that I had never made before, Coconut Barfi.
Coconut Barfi is basically Coconut fudge found primarily in Indian cuisine. Coconut flesh and milk are used a lot more than I imagined but the flavor of the coconut as an accompaniment to some commonly used spices in India work beautifully together. When researching Coconut Barfi, the common ingredients used are:
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| Coconut |
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| Condensed Milk |
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| Sugar |
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| Clarified Butter |
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| Almonds |
The first three ingredients are mixed together in the pan. I reduced the mixture until it was thick and had the consistency of peanut butter. I then added the butter, mixed well and cooked for another minute or two and transferred the mixture to a greased pan. I garnished the Barfi with the almonds and some more fresh grated coconut. A few recipes that I found used cardamom as well but I decided to leave that out this time.
I cracked a fresh coconut and shredded the flesh myself. You don't have to do this given that it's very time consuming but the plus to the extra work is that you get the coconut water. Coconut water is an isotonic beverage and without getting too technical, it aids in hydration much better than any sports drink in my opinion.
I love coconut and while this is not exactly a healthy alternative to chocolate fudge, it keeps the palate intrigued.
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| Sorry about the size of the picture |
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