So for example. Almond Joy and Mounds bars have coconut that isn't hard like fresh coconut meat, and shredded coconut meat has more of a sawdust like texture (I know that's a poor comparison, but it's the best way I could think of to describe it). Is there something that Hershey does to the coconut to soften it that could be replicated in the kitchen without a chemistry set?
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Are you attempting to recreate mounds bars specifically, or do you want this coconut for a different purpose?– FuzzyChefJun 21 at 1:06
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1You might want to look at a few coconut macaroon (not macaron, which is something else entirely as far as I understand it) recipes for some insight. I'm sure other tricks are employed in terms of shelf life for the candy bars, but texture-wise a macaroon is pretty close.– EcnerwalJun 21 at 1:25
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I must admit I haven't had these bars, Hershey's isn't sold in Europe. Do you know if it really consists of softened coconut meat (which few candy bars do), or if it's a mixture with a soft texture, with only some coconut added?– rumtscho ♦Jun 21 at 6:19
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My guess would be that the store bought bars contain a mixture of shredded coconut meat and a generous dose of some vegetable oil and sugar/glucose sirup. Mixed together this should give a smooth dough like texture. The ingredient list should give you a clue.– quaragueJun 21 at 10:53
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@Ecnerwal it's a similar result, but macaroons use egg white and there's no egg in Mounds. Replacing the egg with water would give something that didn't hold together so well, which wouldn't be an issue if covering it in chocolate– Chris HJun 21 at 12:30
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1 Answer
We don't have quite the same products in the UK, but we do have Bounty bars* that sound very similar. The filling clearly has a fair bit of actual shredded coconut in it, but it's too sweet to be pure coconut, and it feels like there's something in between the bits.
Looking at the ingredients, the filling and chocolate aren't separated, but even the dark version contains milk products, so they're likely to be in the filling as well as in the chocolate.
More importantly though, the filling has desiccated coconut, glucose syrup and glycerol.
Mounds ingredients suggest very little milk in the filling.
At home I'd start by simmering desiccated coconut in sugar syrup, possibly also soaking for a while, with glycerine added too. Quantities should, I'd guess, be such that only minimal draining is needed, but you might be simmering long enough to reduce the liquid. Further refinements might involve mixing in a little milk powder once it had cooled, or simmering with cream in the mix.
A big effect on the final texture will be how finely shredded your coconut is. Using a mix of shredded desiccated coconut and coconut flour might be optimal.
You might also look at coconut ice recipes. That leaves the coconut firmer and drier, and commonly uses condensed milk without cooking, though other (apparently older) recipes start by boiling milk and sugar, and may soften more.
* Claims that Mounds are called Bounty in Canada seems unlikely (Mounds are Hershey, Bounty are Mars), but they may be very similar.
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1"Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a coconut bar" - "Well, you're Bounty" (disclaimer: may only be funny if spoken in a Scottish accent) Jun 21 at 12:37
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I'm not entirely sure that the question wanted to replicate those bars, as opposed to wanting soft coconut in general and using the bars as demonstration that it must be doable. But if the purpose is a bar replica, the Internet is full of recipes for it, in fact when I tried to search for "almond joy" I immediately got the suggestions for the "almond joy homemade recipe" search string.– rumtscho ♦Jun 21 at 13:13
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@rumtscho I was aiming for comparable softening, rather than replication, which is why I didn't start from the point of DIY recipes. In fact my writing start with a "simmer in sugar syrup" comment, before I fleshed it out and looked at ingredients. A different sort of soft coconut would start with flour rather than shredded desiccated coconut, but I didn't go down that route .– Chris HJun 21 at 13:22