Once upon a time, I was invited to a holiday party.
I had never been invited to one before just as myself. I’d been to plenty of holiday get-togethers and potlucks, but my parents had always cooked. And then, my internship was throwing a potluck Christmas party, and I was invited. And totally stoked.
After much consideration I chose this recipe for ultra easy coconut tarts to make. Easy, rich, and would make a lot if I multiplied it. What could go wrong? I mean, besides everything?
First, I couldn’t get sweetened coconut, because they don’t carry it at Whole Foods. (Go on, laugh at me.) Then, the cream was separated and I had to spoon out the huge thing of butter at the bottom of each carton. The coconut shells were difficult to squash and sculpt. And then, horror of horrors — they didn’t hold up.
If I’d had more time, energy, and the ability to buy more ingredients, I’m sure I could have made this work by using a large cupcake pan and constructing these mini-tarts in a cupcake liner so it wouldn’t matter that the shells didn’t hold up, because they wouldn’t have to. But by time I realized that my recipe was a no-go and wouldn’t come out of my mini cupcake tins, it was one in the morning, I had tracked coconut over my entire house, and I was in tears and a state of complete emotional breakdown. I decided to make a layer of coconut and a layer of chocolate into a bar form, stick it into the refrigerator overnight, and that would be that. Sorry, everyone looking forward to a taste of elegance with their Doritos.
Of course, that didn’t work either — the chocolate wasn’t strong enough to hold up the coconut, just as the coconut hadn’t been strong enough to hold up the chocolate. Thank God for my mother, who took one look at the disaster of the kitchen and my emotional state and figured out the final solution — a graham cracker crust. What we ended up producing, while not elegant, was extremely popular at the holiday party and delicious, and would make a great dessert for anyone who has to cook for something in the summer. The only time the oven ever goes on is if you elect to toast the coconut — otherwise you melt the chocolate over an open flame and some butter for the graham cracker crust and it gels together in the refrigerator. Magical.
Julia’s No-Bake Coconut S’more Bars
(Makes about 18 large bars)
Ingredients:
1. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until blended completely. Press into the bottom of an 8″x10″ pan and let sit until room temperature.
2. Bring cream or milk to an almost-boil then remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until completely melted.
3. Separate about a cup of coconut from the rest and put aside. Mix the rest of the coconut into the chocolate, and then spread the chocolate mixture over the graham cracker crumb crust.
4. Let cool until the chocolate is slightly tacky (should take only a few minutes) and sprinkle the rest of the coconut on top
Put in the refrigerator until chocolate has cooled completely, and then cut up and serve.
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Dec 11, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
