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How To Make Awesome Home Made Cherry Ripe Bars

How To Make Awesome Home Made Cherry Ripe Bars
Carly Jacobs
W

henever Mr Smaggle and I are shopping for an after dinner treat I get terrified by how much he loves the same flavours that my father likes. Coconut, cherries and fruit in any form – fresh, dried, or in chocolate or cake. They also both like air crash investigation shows and Nigella Lawson. I think I’m going to need therapy in the next few years.

So anyway I recently learned to temper chocolate (it was a WHOLE thing and I feel like a very accomplished grown up now that I can do it) so I’ve been wanting to try a home made chocolate bar recipe. Mr Smags is off for a boys trip for the next few days so I made some cherry ripe bars for him to take for treats. This is a mix of a few no bake cherry slice recipes I’ve used over the years and when you temper your chocolate it makes them look super professional.

Cherry Slice

Home Made Cherry Ripe Bars
 
PREP
COOK
TOTAL
 
By:
What You Need
  • 250gms of plain biscuits crumbled or food processed (I used gluten free arrowroots)
  • 110gms of melted butter
  • 4 cups of desiccated coconut
  • 395gm can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 200gms of glace cherries, finely chopped
  • 125gms copha, melted
  • Rose pink food colouring
  • 1 packet of dark chocolate melts
What You Do
  1. Grease and line a slice tin with butter and baking paper. Leave baking paper extending over the sides of the tin so you can easily lift it out when it’s finished.
  2. Place crumbled biscuits in a large bowl. You can food process biscuits or use a mortar and pestle. Add butter and stir in with a wooden spoon. Press mixture into the base of the pan (packed very tightly to stop it from crumbling later) and then refrigerate for 30 mins.
  3. Mix coconut, condensed milk, melted copha and cherries into a bowl. Mix well. Add a few drops of food colouring (like a teeny tiny amount or otherwise it looks like unicorn vomit) and mix well. Spoon mixture into the tin and press down firmly with the back of the spoon. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Cut slice into bite sized squares or bars.
  4. Temper your chocolate using this method and coat your bars in chocolate. Dip the bars in the chocolate and scoop them out with a fork and tap it on the edge of the bowl to get rid of excess chocolate. Place your bars on a tray with baking paper and refridgerate until you're ready to eat them!

Cherry Slice

 

For my non-Australian readers… you don’t have copha do you? I read somewhere that it’s only available in Australia but apparently it’s similar to vegetable shortening. I was fascinated when I learned you can only get copha in Australia. It’s such an Aussie primary school flavour for me and it tastes like chocolate crackles and coconut ice at school fetes.

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What was your favourite school fete treat? I loved toffees and big jars of tombola lollies!

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22 Comments

  1. Christine 9 years ago

    When I was a child, sometimes on a Friday night, dad would bring home a Cadbury chocolate block to mum and a cherry ripe for me. I love my daddy and cherry ripe. Only natural you find qualities in your life partner that are the things you love about your daddy, not only personal traits, but also their likes and dislikes – and not in an icky way at all. I think it’s beautiful. xx

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh what a lovely story! It is very beautiful, my dad is an excellent human. But is sometimes a bit weird when I offer to make my dad a cake he always requests Ben’s favourites.

  2. Tahlia Meredith 9 years ago

    YUM!!

    Also I totally have those boyfriend=dad moments…I try really hard to block them out :p

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Mine happen almost every day – it’s certainly not bad though because my dad is super awesome.

  3. mrswoog 9 years ago

    Homemade chocolate caramel slice… SCOFF

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      This would actually work with home made caramel slice… I think!

  4. KellyNH 9 years ago

    Oooh. They look fancy! Also, unicorn vomit = mental image for the day. Thanks for that :o)

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      You have be very visceral about some things. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone over using their rose coloured food dye.

  5. You had me at Cherry Ripe, ooh these look so good!

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      I received a text message telling me that they’re all gone. Win!

  6. Is it really bad that I quite like the hint of cleave in the shot?!

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Food is very sexual my little grasshopper. Your feelings are valid.

  7. merilyn 9 years ago

    cherry ripes are my very favourite smags!
    oh dear! how can one give up sugar at xmas time … impossible I think!
    cheers m:)X

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh it’s too hard! Just go easy on it I say!

  8. Anna Buckley 9 years ago

    You are a cruel woman. I am a victim of cherry ripe love. Even Aldi has the real thing at their checkout…which validates them even more. And today I’m attempting to fast but all I want to do it hunt down glace cherries and Copha and make this slice!
    I may have a solution to the Copha problem. Some Asian supermarkets sell solid block coconut cream. Malaysian cooks use this in a richer form of coconut ice…another old school Aussie treat.
    I’m grabbing the keys and heading off to Piedimontes as we speak. I blame you!

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Are you doing the 5:2? I do the 5:2! It’s great! I love it because I won’t have slice on a fast day but I know I can have slice on the next day! Ha! Have fund slipping into your cherry ripe coma! x

  9. Anna Buckley 9 years ago

    Yeah, yeah, love the 5/2. Don’t fuck around around with diets anymore, love the head space of having at least two days when I don’t have to think about ‘What’s for dinner?’. A bonus is that it’s forced my son to learn how to cook! Love your writing and irreverence.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 9 years ago

      Oh thank you! What I lovely compliment. Irreverant is just about my favourite thing people call me! x

  10. These look so good! However, your chocolate tempering link is not working. I’m going to pop back to learn how to do this very clever grown-up thing 🙂

  11. I loved fruit pastilles, but we don’t really get them down under, however, Jubes are a good substitute. This slice looks soooo nice, the closest I ever got was a cherry ripe chocolate bark thing with CHILLI! It’s all the noms!

  12. hailz 9 years ago

    In our family, when it’s biscuit crushing time, they get tied up in multiple plastic bags and run over by a car a few times.

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