Chocco-Coco Jumbles

Chewy sweet easy Jumbles: coconut and chcolate go together so well!

Chocolate Coconut Jumbles

These are sort of like a coconut macaroon but chocolately and chewier. They have a meringue base but aren’t crisp.  Easy to make, keep a few days, great for picnics and lunchboxes; who cares if they aren’t that sophisticated or elegant?

A classic jumble is an American cake/biscuit cross made from flour, sugar, eggs and spices. In “What Katy Did at School”, (by Susan Coolidge) the half-starved girls at boarding school were sent a parcel from home at Christmas containing home-made jumbles, which seem to have been a bit like our rock cakes, with some dried fruit in there as well. My recipe is a departure from that long ago classic. Anyway, it’s a simple baked sweet creation, so maybe I can use the name for these too as they're a jumbled messy sort of bake. And the boarding school girls would have been pleased to get them. No doubt someone better informed can set me right on the original recipe?  Please leave a comment if you can, it would be great to find out more about the original jumbles. 
 
Makes 16 medium jumbles          Timings:               10 minutes preparation, 30 minutes to set, 30 minutes to bake

• 2 egg whites
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 50g icing sugar
• 40g cocoa powder

 
Whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff, then add the caster sugar with the motor running. Whisk until glossy and thick – about 3 minutes. Add the coconut, icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix with a metal spoon – you will get a very gloopy mixture.

Drop spoonfuls on a greaseproof paper lined flat baking tray and leave for 30 minutes to allow them to set and a crust to form.

Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes until cracked on the outside and still chewy on the inside. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

They will keep in a tin for a few days, gradually getting chewier.