‘Kokada’ freshly grated coconut patties held together in a sugar syrup, tinted with food coloring for a festive look, should not to be confused with the more popular gooey coconut macaroon or hard Vietnamese ‘kẹo dừa’. Typically sold as colorful palm-sized patties by street vendors, bite-sized versions (in small cupcake wrappers) tend to adorn Curaçao-style dessert table at weddings, first communions and birthday parties.
Source: Curaçao Tourist Board.
Ingredients:
2 coconuts
2 cups water
2 lbs sugar
1 lime rind
food coloring (red, green, yellow, blue, whatever you prefer)
2 tsp cherry extract
2 tsp anise extract
2 tsp pineapple extract
2 tsp coconut extract
candy thermometer
1.5″ ice cream scoop
Directions:
- Crack coconuts, remove shells, peel brown skin off coconut meat. Finely grate coconut meat [You could buy frozen grated coconut, but grating it yourself is a lot more fun!]
- Bring water and sugar to a boil until the mixture becomes a thick syrup.
- Add grated coconut and lime rind. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat. Discard lime rind and scoop 1/4th of the coconut mixture in a small bowl.
- Add a few drops of food coloring and mix well and section by spooning (or using an ice cream scoop dipped in hot water) [red + cherry extract, green + anise extract, yellow + pineapple extract, white + coconut extract]
- If the coconut mixture becomes too hard to work with, add a little hot water and heat again while stirring.
- Allow to harden completely and store in an air tight container. [Holds for about 1 week]
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