1 post tagged “chocolate coconut nests”

When i was a little kid, my sisters and i would always get a chocolate coconut nest complete with three jelly bean eggs in our Easter baskets. The confection was made at a local candy shop in town and i'm sure most of my friends got them for Easter too. My sister is coming up to visit for the holiday and she requested a Chocolate Coconut Nest, so I decided to try and make them myself. I looked for recipes but couldn't find exactly what i was looking for so I just made it up! Each of the nests are approximately 3" and yields six, but you could make a whole bunch of little tiny ones with itty bitty jelly beans too! I thought these would make a great Easter dinner place setting, they look so cute sitting on a plate!
The nests are made of three ingredients: flaked sweetened coconut, chocolate, and candy eggs (i used malted milk balls), and you will also need a large pan or cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment so the nests won't stick. I used a 3" ice cream scoop and a 2" ice cream scoop to mold the nests, but you could just as easily use your hands. I choose Milk Chocolate Bark instead of regular chocolate because it doesn't need to be tempered so it won't melt outside of the fridge. I used a whole bag of flaked sweetened coconut and toasted it in a 325 degree oven for around 5 minutes–you MUST watch the coconut carefully and frequently stir it around so it doesn't burn. I toasted mine really brown and crispy so it would have some crunch and wouldn't get too soft from the chocolate. After the coconut is cooled, place it into a large bowl and set aside. Next, melt your chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave until smooth. I just guessed with the amount chocolate and used around 6 or 7 squares of the bark (or 1/2 a bag of chocolate chips) to cover one bag of coconut. You can use less or more depending on how coated you want your nests to be. Mix the melted chocolate into the coconut and start working FAST before the chocolate hardens! I used my 3" scoop to gather a compacted mound of the mixture and placed it on the Silpat. Next I used the back of a 2" scoop to form a dent in the mound. You can spray the 2" scoop with Pam so it doesnt stick. If the mixture starts to harden you can warm it up a little in the microwave to soften. When all the nests are finished, quickly place the candy eggs in and put the pan into the fridge for 30 minutes. The nests came easily off the Silpat and were compact enough to move around so i ended up putting them into cello bags with ribbon. What a fun and easy Easter treat! Enjoy!