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Geplak (Bantul coconut sugar candy)
Pastel pink, green and white coconut candies from Yogyakarta
Drive south from Yogyakarta to Bantul and you pass shop after shop selling geplak, the brightly coloured coconut candy that Javanese travellers buy by the basket as oleh-oleh, a gift for the people back home. Freshly grated coconut is cooked in sugar syrup until it dries and begins to crystallise, then a spoonful of toasted rice flour pulls it together into a firm, sandy-textured sweet. It is very sweet and coconutty with a gentle pandan scent, and it crumbles softly when you bite it. Serve small pieces with strong Javanese coffee or tea. Geplak is naturally egg-free: the recrystallising sugar and the toasted rice flour are what bind the coconut and let it hold its shape. Chef's tip: cook over a medium heat rather than high; the common mistake is rushing, which browns the coconut and dulls those pastel colours.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 1 ⅜ oz rice flour
- 9 oz granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 pandan leavestied in a knot
- 10 ½ oz freshly grated coconutwhite flesh only, from about 1 coconut
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 2 drops pink food colouring (optional)
- 2 drops green food colouring or pandan paste (optional)
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Toast 1 ⅜ oz rice flour in a dry pan over a low heat, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until it smells nutty but is still white. Tip into a bowl.
4 minStep 2: Put 9 oz granulated sugar, ½ cup water and 2 pandan leaves in a wide pan over a medium heat, stir until the sugar dissolves, then boil until the syrup reaches about 225°F and pulls into a short thread between two fingers.
6 minStep 3: Remove the pandan, add 10 ½ oz freshly grated coconut and 1 pinch fine salt and stir constantly over a medium heat for 10–15 minutes, until the mixture looks dry, the sugar starts to turn white and grainy, and the coconut clumps together.
13 minStep 4: Sprinkle over the toasted rice flour and stir for 2 more minutes, until a pinch pressed between your fingers holds firm.
2 minStep 5: Take the pan off the heat and divide the mixture into three bowls. Leave one white, and work 2 drops pink food colouring and 2 drops green food colouring or pandan paste into the others while warm.
Step 6: Press each colour firmly into small balls, rectangles or fluted moulds, about 15 g each, while still warm.
Step 7: Leave on a tray for 30 minutes to firm and dry. Keeps 1 week in an airtight box.
30 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 185 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 27 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does geplak (Bantul coconut sugar candy) take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 50 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of granulated sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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