This Christmas recipe was inspired by this picture I saw on the internet. Since for the life of me, I could not find a recipe, I had to make up my own as I went.
It is a rarely known fact that Christians greatly opposed this decorating of Christmas trees when the practice first came up in the 1800’s. It was the Germans who first introduced it to the Western world and today, it has become a symbol of Christmas all over the world. read up a little about the history of how it all came to be in my previous post.
So the recipe.
Super simple. And super delicious. If you plan on entertaining children for Christmas, these snow capped Christmas tree sweets will undoubtedly be their favorite. And they can be whipped up in a jiffy too!
- Serving: 16 Christmas trees
Edible Christmas trees
Ingredients
- Sweetened condensed milk - 1 ½ cup
- Desiccated coconut - 3 cups
- Sugar - 3/4 cup
- Vanilla - A dash
- To decorate
- White chocolate - 1 cup
- M&Ms (or any other multicolored sweet) - 1 cup
Instructions
To make the trees
- In a nonstick pan, heat the sweetened condensed milk and the sugar until dissolved. Add the coconut. Stir well until combined.
- Add in the vanilla. Add the green food coloring. Stir well and simmer on low fire until the mixture thickens. Don’t forget to stir constantly.
- When you think that the mixture is thick enough to form into shapes take off heat. This you can do by putting a little amount of the mixture onto a separate plate while cooking and leaving it to cool. Touch and mould to check for consistency.
- While the mixture is still warm and before it hardens too much, mold the mixture into little cones. You needn’t be make them perfect, a little wonky is adorable.
To decorate
- Melt the white chocolate. This you can do over a double boiler or in the microwave. If you are microwaving, be careful not to burn.
- Dip the points of the coconut cones in the white chocolate mixture. Let the chocolate slide down the cone, it doesn’t matter. Stud it with the M&Ms (the more colorful the better) and leave to cool.
- I serve these on a plate strewn with white granulated sugar. Like glittering snow :)
This is where the milky and the coconutty join. If you fear that it will be too sweet, surprisingly it’s not! The light toastiness of the coconut comes through the milkiness of the condensed milk and combines in a pretty foxtrot that is too cute to ignore. You cannot resist the crunch of those sweets as you bite in, nor can you not crave for that whiteness of the white chocolate light you from within. Although ideal for kids, this is a dessert that even the big kids will love.