CLASSIC COCONUT ICE SQUARES

I've been really inspired recently by Sweets Made Simple on BBC2. Please please check it out if you haven't watched it as Miss Hope and Mr G and their enthusiasm is infectious. It was enough to get me off my bum again to make these delightful coconut ice squares. They require no baking, just a bit of muscle, some time to cool in the fridge and with just four ingredients, they are so easy to make as a homemade treat or gift for friends and family. They are a true classic and now you can make them too!

Coconut Ice

500g Icing Sugar

400g Tin Condensed Milk

400g Dissected Coconut

Few Drops Pink Food Colouring

1. Add the icing sugar into a large bowl and add in the condensed milk a third at a time, mixing between each addition until the two come together to form a sticky ball.
2. Now, on a clean surface, sprinkle over some of the coconut and tip out the sticky ball onto the coconut and then sprinkle more of the coconut over the top. Knead the coconut into the dough adding more coconut as you go until it's all worked into the dough. Treat the coconut like you would flour kneading bread dough to prevent the dough sticking to your work surface. The dough will get very stiff, a bit like the consistency of blu tac so you'll need to really put some effort into the kneading.
3. Line a 20cm square deep sided baking tin with cling film. Split the dough into two equal pieces. Take one half of the doughand press it into the bottom of the tin to form a base layer to the white coconut ice.
4. Split the second half of the dough into six smaller pieces. Take one piece at a time and place two drops of the food colouring onto it and knead again until the colouring has gone right through the dough. It's easier to do this if you split the dough into smaller pieces. Add more drops if you want a more vibrant colour. Repeat with the other five pieces until all the dough is a lovely pink colour.
5. Spread your pink dough on top of the white dough, pressing it dough ensure even and compact layers. Make sure all the white dough is covered with the pink before placing in the fridge to set.

The coconut ice set after 3 hours but you can leave it overnight if you like. Remove from the fridge and tip out of the tin. Remove the film and cut with a very sharp knife into equal sized bite sized squares. Pile onto a plate and tuck in. An ideal recipe for preparing the night before a party to offer as sweet treats to or wrap them up in gift bags to give as gifts. They will wow people they look so impressive yet they couldn't be any more simple.

The classics are always the best!