These orange and coconut bites were my mother’s specialty. I clearly remember that whenever my mom said I’ll make orange coconut balls, I was in the kitchen before she gets there. Although as a child I didn’t really like the orange flavored food and desserts, but my love for coconut, as I mentioned that before, made me overlook the orange flavor and only think about the coconut flavor in these little delicious morsels. I use to stand on a stool and wait for my mother to pour the hot orange paste in the tray so I can start taking small portions of it, submerge it in the coconut and shape it in to small balls.
The recipe I shared is not exactly my mothers way of preparing these morsels, I did some modifications to the preparation process to make it faster and easier.
Ingredients
- 5 oranges
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup organic desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
- 2 tablespoons melted milk chocolate
Instructions
- Wash the oranges, dry then zest. Place the zest in a small pot, add 2 cups of cold water, place the pot over high heat and bring to rapid boil and cook for 2 minutes. Place a large and very fine sieve over a large bowl in the kitchen sink, pour the orange zest in the sieve and strain. Return the strain zest to the pot, add 2 cups of cold water and repeat the above again for 4-5 times or until the zest is no longer tastes bitter.
- Place the sugar and water in the same pot and place pot over medium high heat, mix to dissolve sugar and form syrup, then add the zest to the syrup and while stirring cook for 20 minutes or until all the liquids are gone and a thick paste forms. Drizzle the orange paste with the lemon juice and stir to mix well, remove pot from heat.
- Place the coconut on a large plate or tray, take about 2 teaspoon of the orange paste while still hot and place it over the coconut roll it in the coconut to shape small a ball. Continue with the rest of the paste and shape it all into small balls, arrange these small morsels on a try and leave the tray uncovered so the orange bites are dry. Garnish the morsels with some melted chocolate, plate and serve.
Bon Appetite
Thank you for following me on Instagram & Facebook
Take the time and cook this recipe, make sure to hashtag your photos on Instagram with #soraya’sdelight so that I can enjoy seeing your creations as well! 😉
