What I Loved
What is smooth, creamy, and loaded with coconut? This amazing coconut cream recipe! I was very skeptical of this recipe because me and gelatin based desserts rarely see eye to eye. I’m a big texture eater and I often don’t love their textures. However, this truly was smooth and creamy. It felt very indulgent without being heavy.
Currently I’m experiencing a very cold and wet spring. However, this dessert instantly took me to those warm summer nights where I want something subtly sweet and cold. The coconut flavor was very apparent and I feel the ideas for customization are almost endless. I loved the orange flavor that the orange slices imparted. It tasted a lot like a Pina colada. However, in the future I’m going to experiment with raspberry, lime, or even mango.
Original Coconut Cream Recipe
- 1/2 envelope Knox Sparkling Gelatin
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 3 Eggs
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- Few grains of salt
- 1 teaspoonful vanilla
Soak gelatin in cold water five minutes. Make custard of yolks of eggs, sugar and milk; remove from range and add soaked gelatin. When mixture begins to set, add coconut, whites of eggs beaten stiff, salt and flavoring. Line a mold with sections of orange, pour mixture in and chill.
Updated Method
Disclaimer: I’m a total novice when it comes to gelatin. When it comes to dissolving the gelatin, I followed the process on Knox’s website here. It is interesting reading if you are fascinated by gelatin. I’ll include the gist in my method to follow.
- 1 envelope Knox Sparkling Gelatin
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- Few grains of salt
- 1 teaspoonful vanilla
Pour the envelope of gelatin in the cold water and mix thoroughly. Set aside. Make a custard out of the egg yolks, sugar, and milk. Do this by heating the milk and vanilla on medium heat until it just starts to simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside. Mix the egg yolks and the sugar together in a bowl. Whisk until it becomes a little lighter in color. Slowly combine the hot milk a tablespoon at a time while whisking to temper the eggs (If you do it all at once you get scrambled eggs).
Once you have added 5-6 tablespoons of milk to the egg mixture, slowly pour the mixture into the pot and put it back on the stove over low heat. Whisk constantly until the custard mixture will coat the back of a spoon. You can run it through a strainer to get any stray bits of egg out of the custard. This makes it extra smooth.
Next, add the dissolved gelatin into the custard and mix a few more times. Add the coconut and pour in ramekins or a gelatin mold. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to fully set. Feel free to add orange slices, berries, or mango to the bottom of the ramekin or mold before adding the custard mixture. This will add flavor and variety when it sets up. Enjoy!
What I Learned
There are definitely tweaks I plan to make for the next batch. First, I left the mold in the hot water too long. That’s why my picture looks a little soupy. It was actually very well set. In order to remedy this, I plan on using individual sized ramekins. It is a more elegant feel and solution than a gelatin mold. I also plan on experimenting with different flavored syrups and purees to add a drizzle of flavor when I remove it from the ramekin. I’ll be sure to update the picture when I do that.
The other major departure from the original coconut cream recipe was I omitted the egg whites. However, I didn’t notice any issues with the coconut cream setting up at all. I also used a full envelope of the gelatin instead of half and I dissolved it in boiling water. The result was a dessert that set up properly and had a smooth and desirable texture. If you make this recipe, share your experience below. I’d love to hear how it goes!
Recipe Reference
Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, Knox Gelatin, 1915