I really do. Thanks to my grandpa and his friend, we have a lovely bunch of green coconuts to enjoy. So while the coconut water flows, we have an abundance of fresh coconut meat… I already made a batch of macaroons, but I wanted to try something different with some of the grated coconut. I thought there must be some way to make something similar to rice pudding but with coconut, but my searches turned up very few recipes that made use of fresh coconut rather than dried. Then, a stroke of genius… I decided to search in Spanish. After all, the best coconut deserts I’ve had are all Hispanic. Voila! I found the just what I was looking for on a forum for a Dominican recipe site: Dulce de Coco. A tasty treat, similar to rice pudding, but featuring delectable coconut goodness.
I adapted the recipe to suit my needs and it turned out wonderfully sweet and full of coconut flavor. A great treat if you have some fresh coconut.
Dulce de Coco
Adapted by Gricel from La Cocina de la Tía Clara, Cocina Dominicana
Ingredients
- 3 cups of 2% milk
- 1 – 1 ½ cups fresh, grated coconut (I’m sure unsweetened baking coconut also works)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup raisins (optional)
Preparation
Mix the milk, coconut, sugar, cinnamon stick, and raisins (optional) in a medium pan, on low heat.
Stir occasionally to keep the coconut from sticking to the bottom and burning.
Allow to boil until the mixture thickens, the consistency should be similar to rice pudding.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. It will thicken further as it cools.
Note on the cooking time: I set it on medium-low heat for a little over an hour and a half. The original recipe said it would take 25 minutes, but I halved the recipe and it still took more than twice as long before it reached the desired consistency.
marginalia and such 