Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Strawberry Candy

Every summer when I was little my sister and I would help my Nana make these candies. We only made these in the summer, and we usually made them to bring to a party or a barbecue. I loved these little candies; they were so much fun to roll and shape, and our fingers would be dyed red from the sprinkles by the time we were finished making them.

These candies will rot your teeth right out of your face, they are pretty much nothing but sugar, more sugar and then some more sugar. These were always just a special treat for us, and I always looked forward to making them. After we were done shaping and rolling them we would pile them into a green pint container and they would look just like a little basket of strawberries.

These are most definitely a classic in my family, I've never seen them in any candy recipe books, and when I make them people are always intrigued by them.

Recipe:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 large packages wild strawberry jello
7 oz sweetened shredded coconut
1 c finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
red sprinkles
green sprinkles

Combine all ingredients, refrigerate at least an hour so that they mix is firm enough to shape.

After mixture is chilled scoop out tablespoon sized amount of mix and mold into strawberry shape.

Roll the strawberry, except for the top into red sprinkles, press top into green sprinkles to create the look of a stem.

Chill until ready to serve. Enjoy

Rating = So Good

11 comments:

wheresmymind said...

Love to make this 'cept for my veggie lovin' jello hatin' wife ;)

Patricia Scarpin said...

I'm tagging this recipe right now, JB, and I know it will be a hit in my sister's birthday party, next month.

I love the fact that the mixture doesn't need to be cooked.

We make many sweets and candies here with sweetened condensed milk and one of them is a mix of condensed milk, strawberry gelatin powder and butter, cooked over low heat and then rolled into balls when it's cold. We call them "bicho-de-pé", which is chigoe in Portuguese - I know it's pretty gross, but the candy is good as hell. :)

JB said...

Patricia, let me know if your family enjoys them. They are so easy and fun to make.

Yuzu said...

I made these at school when I was 10 years old. A looooong time ago. I've been looking for the recipe every since. WHAT MEMORIES! Thank you! :)

JB said...

Yuzu - I'm so glad that I could bring this memory and recipe back to you. Please let me know when you make them and if they are the same as when you were little.
Jules

Jayashiangel said...

This is very close to a recipe my grandma made for my brother when I was a kid 30+ years ago. Thank for posting your recipe used green food coloring to color slivered almonds to use as the stem. w/ out the green sprinkles.I am making them this Xmas for his present along with a batch of fudge

Erin said...

My grandma makes these too!! I LOVE them. We put a green-dyed almond sliver in the top to make it look like the stem, in addition to the green-dyed sugar for the tops.

KarenZ said...

The strawberry gelatin I got is just one large 3 oz packet. Is that what it means by a large packet of strawberry gelatin? Because I also have unflavored gelatin that came in 4 smaller packets.

JB said...

Kairi,
Yes, use the three oz package of strawberry gelatin.

Anonymous said...

What could I substitute for the nuts? Going to make a Pete the Cat cake for a classroom and can't use nuts because of food allergies. Pete the Cat walks thru a strawberry patch so need to make some strawberries.

JB said...

Perhaps you could substitute sunflower seeds? I've never tried to substitute the walnuts with anything else. Perhaps crushed graham crackers?