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Great Granny’s Coconut Ice

November 28, 2015 By Amy 16 Comments

Coconut Ice

There’s two things I think of when I think of my Granny (The Boys Great Granny): endless cups of tea & Coconut Ice. And not the pink & white condensed milk version that seems to come up whenever you search for a recipe. I’m talking about the good old fashioned Scottish sweet shop version with just 3 simple ingredients, boiled in a pot until it “spits at you”!

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Great Granny’s Coconut Ice has always been a favourite of mine and I’d often find myself with a recycled punnet full of the stuff to take along to any school fair or bake sale as a child. Usually topped with a few hairs from Bobby the dog (not something I recommend adding to this recipe, mind you)!

So a few years back after Christmas dinner I asked Great Granny to write down the recipe of her infamous Coconut Ice. I can still remember her laughing at me even wanting it written down as it’s so simple, she’d always just done it from memory. She told me it without a second thought, as if it was ingrained in her memory and I wrote it on a piece of scrap paper which I still have to this day.

In fact, this recipe holds such reference to Great Granny that there was even a bake-off style competition between our family to try and recreate the infamous coconut ice to enjoy in her memory at her funeral. It’s safe to say this was the winning one (not that I let-on to having the recipe when agreeing upon a competition…) and although it may not have the Bobby hairs that Great Granny’s Coconut Ice had, it’s still in the style of her well loved & remembered treat.

Coconut Ice

Coconut Ice

3.67 from 3 votes
Print Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Author: Baking with Granny

Ingredients 

  • 500 g bag of Granulated Sugar.
  • Half a Pint of Whole Milk.
  • 200 g of Dessicated Coconut.
  • Few drops of pink food colouring optional.

Instructions

  • Grease your baking tray with a little butter or coconut oil.
  • In a large pan mix the milk & sugar together over a low heat.
  • When the sugar granules have dissolved, add the coconut & a few drops of pink colouring (optional) to the pan.
  • Bring the mixture to the boil until it start to "spit at you," stirring continuously. Continue to stir for around 10 minutes.
  • After around 10 minutes the mixture will have become very thick & sticky. "When you can spoon a small amount into cold water & it remains set together, you know it's ready."
  • Spoon the delicious mixture to your pre-greased tin, spreading evenly with the back of your spoon. Allow to cool & set, which will take at least a few hours but ideally overnight.
  • Cut into bars or squares & enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Tag @bakingwithgranny or use the hashtag #bakingwithgranny!


Coconut Ice

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Filed Under: recipe, scottish, tray bake Tagged With: coconut, milk, pink, sugar

Comments

  1. Lou hereford says

    January 22, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    What temp on a candy thermometer should I cook this at plz. Many thanks Lou x

    Reply
    • Andrew Smith says

      October 6, 2021 at 12:20 pm

      125centigrate

      Reply
  2. Desareen says

    November 1, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    I am looking for an old fashioned cooked coconut ice recipe that includes milk/sugar/condensed milk/colouring is there someone that can plz help me

    Reply
    • Andrew Smith says

      October 6, 2021 at 12:18 pm

      that’s not the old fashioned using condensed milk!!, with condensed milk you just blend the ingredients together no cooking

      Reply
  3. Charlene says

    June 12, 2019 at 10:39 pm

    I made this today and did not look like the pictures lol mine was very thin haha

    Reply
  4. Noreen aron says

    December 6, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    5 stars
    Very helpful for children to follow

    Reply
  5. John Knight says

    April 27, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    I have been browsing your traybake recipes and I have found that you rarely mention what size tin is required. If you could provide this information it would be very useful and help prevent any disasters.
    Thanks

    Reply
  6. MIRIAM BERGEN says

    May 9, 2020 at 8:32 am

    Jesus John.
    Use ya head.

    Reply
    • Helen Stuart says

      November 28, 2021 at 12:40 am

      I like that comment
      The tin size is actually your own preference

      Reply
  7. Adi says

    August 10, 2020 at 7:42 am

    5 stars
    Goodness me, those pink slabs look awfully decadent and succulent. What disconcerts me a little is the amount of sugar, almost double the amount of the coconut.

    Reply
    • Helen Stuart says

      November 28, 2021 at 12:44 am

      Old fashion recipes tend to be that way. People weren’t as health conscious as we are today. Recipes like this are best made as treats on special occasions

      Reply
  8. Karin Murati says

    October 7, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    Hello,
    can you explain to a German why this sweetness is called ice?

    Reply
  9. Rachael Hey says

    January 24, 2021 at 11:09 pm

    Delicious coconut ice recipe and so easy to make. Thank you!

    Reply
  10. Sally says

    March 5, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    I made this and it turned out all sticky and chewy and not like coconut ice at all. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
  11. Yvonne M says

    November 21, 2021 at 6:38 am

    Very disappointed. It did not set although I cooked way beyond time indicated. Just a pan of slop ‍

    Reply
  12. Allyson Waird says

    December 23, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    1 star
    Epic fail.
    Whenever I try a new recipe, I follow it carefully. I don’t have failures.
    Have you left out a step? Are your proportions correct?
    The coconut ice did not set.
    What a waste of ingredients and time.
    Very, very disappointed.

    Reply

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Hello & welcome!

Hello, I’m Amy, the voice-behind and creator-of Baking with Granny.

So many of us have fond memories of baking with our parents and grandparents. Good old fashioned home baking, made to traditional family recipes, which are passed down through generations. It was from my own experiences and memories of this that Baking with Granny was born…

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