Coconut Balls with Ricotta
Ingredients
20-25 pcs
- Shredded coconut 1 cup (half for the mixture, half for coating) (80 g)
- Ricotta or mild cottage cheese 250 g
- Powdered sugar 100 g
- Hazelnuts (optional) 50 g
- Vanilla extract 1-2 drops
Step-by-step recipe
Cheese mixture
Coconut balls are best made with ricotta as the base. This Italian cheese is made from the whey left over after making mozzarella. It contains almost no casein, only albumin. It’s sold in sealed jars and is of excellent quality. Fresh mild cottage cheese works well for this dessert too.
Prepare the cheese: the dessert needs a slightly dry cheese, so be sure to drain the liquid from the jar of ricotta.
If the ricotta is too wet, wrap it in cloth, set it in a colander and leave it for 2-3 hours to let the excess liquid drain.
Mix the cheese with vanilla and powdered sugar. Put the cheese in a bowl, add 1-2 drops of vanilla extract and 100 g of powdered sugar. Stir with a fork until the mixture is as smooth as possible and the sugar has dissolved.
Instead of vanilla you can use other flavorings: rum, citron, honey, a little liqueur. It’s optional, but don’t overdo it. The aroma and taste should be barely noticeable.
Add half of the shredded coconut (40 g) to the cheese mixture and stir again. The mass will be slightly moist and firm, and the balls will hold their shape well. You can adjust the thickness with more shredded coconut.
Balls
Prepare a plate or a small tray. Paper candy cups work very well: they look like cells, are sold in blocks, and each one holds a small candy. Arrange the paper cups on the tray.
Shape the balls. Roll balls of equal size by hand, about the size of a very large cherry, or a heaping teaspoon by volume. You will get 20-25 pcs. If you like, put one hazelnut inside each ball. You can roast the nuts first in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, until lightly golden, then let them cool. Set the balls on an empty plate.
Instead of hazelnuts you can use almonds, walnut kernels or cashews.
Roll the balls in shredded coconut. Pour all the remaining shredded coconut into a deep bowl. Put 3-4 balls in the coconut and rock the bowl so that as much coconut as possible sticks to the moist surface of the ricotta. Move the finished ball to a paper cup and roll all the others in turn.
Chill: I recommend putting the finished dessert in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Serving
Serve the coconut balls chilled, and all that’s left is to enjoy a tasty, fresh dessert. It keeps in the refrigerator for a few days. Still, it’s better to make a fresh batch, since it’s quick and easy.
Calories and macros
335 kcal
100 g
- Protein6.6 g8% of kcal
- Fat22.4 g60% of kcal
- Carbs26.5 g32% of kcal
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.