Candied Coconut Rings

Candied Coconut Rings

I would not, here, begin to tell you about the benefits of cooking with coconut oil, drinking coconut water, and what about eating the coconut meat itself?!....., there is an explosion of information on the numerous health benefits of this fruit.

I remember growing up when they usually say that people with a cough do not eat coconuts....or that if you do not want a cough then do not eat coconut. That gave the fruit some form of reputation...., which made people stay away from it.


Coconuts are healthy and contain high levels of fat which do us a lot of good. This is an established fact. No wonder then, health promoting organisations capitalize on this to create and sell products using coconuts.

All around me in the UK you find prepacked, ready to eat snacks containing coconuts whether fresh or dried. Very innovative and quite welcome idea, because the truth is wee need to be eating more coconuts and finding creative ways of doing this is fantastic.

I grew up loving coconut candies also known as shukshuk. This is grated freshly cracked coconuts boiled in sugary water until all the sugar caramelized.  Taking a cue from this old loved recipe, I have come up with Candied Coconut Rings.

It all started when I received a load full of coconuts harvested from my dad's orchard somewhere far away in Ekiti State. My first impressions was, what am I going to to with all these coconuts......even my husband had a suggestion......why not make coconut rice he said...hehehe

Candied Coconut Rings

I kept the coconuts in one corner of my kitchen and overlooked them mostly and occasionally remembered them when I needed something to snack on,...

So one day after several weeks of ignoring the coconuts, there were still a few left, I took one and cracked it as usual to eat for snacks as I was surprised that it was completely water-less and came off the shell whole. Wow I said and got fascinated. Took out my mandolin slicer and came up with perfect ring slices...so what did I do, I made candied coconut rings


What you need

• Coconut 
• Sugar
• Water
• Zobo syrup to add a bit of color

What to do

1. Crack the shell open and remove the whole coconut, taking care not to break it into pieces. Choosing a naturally dried coconut with no water in it, is best.  If there is still water in your coconut, consider piercing the eye of the coconut, drain the water and place in an oven under low heat for a few hours, or just placing in a corner of your kitchen for a few days. This should dry out the coconut.
2. Then slice using a mandolin slicer. This will ensure the slices come out perfect and as thinly as possible. 
3. Then Place the rings into a large enough pan, add sugar and water and allow to boil until all the water evaporates and the sugar just starts to crystallize around the rings. 
4. As an option, drop some already candied rings into zobo syrup for added visual appeal. 
5. Note take care when handling hot rings. Allow to cool and serve. They will make excellent party knickknacks. Also the sliced coconut rings on their own, with no added sugar are also delicious.

Candied Coconut Rings stained with Zobo Syrup 

My recommended Mandolin Slicer