Sucker bag is one of the frozen snacks I grew up enjoying. In Trinidad it is always hot, save for the rainy season, and sometimes it gets so hot that you need something to cool down after spending some time in the stinging sun. We have quite a few ways to do just that. For the adults, a cold beer or some other cold beverage and for the children we have soft drinks, juices and a few frozen treats.
Sucker Bag: The Grandfather of Frozen Desserts
Locally, when it comes to frozen treats we have penacool, commercial lollies, snow cone, ice block and then there is the traditional “Sucker Bag“. The owners of small shops or “parlours” made this to sell long time; I don’t see it selling as much nowadays.
In a sense it may well be the grandfather of frozen desserts on the island. Anyhow, I did not get much of the commercial lollies while growing up, so this was my favorite frozen dessert (you see at one time we had a little parlour and my mother made these to sell ! ). This frozen dessert is still enjoyed by children (and children at heart) in Trinidad and Tobago.
The coconut could be substituted with vanilla, or any other flavour desired (I once tasted a rum and raisin flavour and a Guinness flavour sucker bag). The only obstacle is your imagination.
Sucker Bag Recipe
“SUKER-BAG” (COCONUT FLAVOUR)
Ingredients:
8 cups water (for the custard)
5 cups water (for coconut)
2 tins (395 g) condensed milk
1 tin (410 g) evaporated milk
2-3 tbsp. mixed essence
2 medium sized coconuts
¾ cups(100g) custard powder
1 tsp salt
1½-2 cups brown sugar
Direction:
Boil the custard in water and leave to cool.
Chop and blend the coconut in water until fine.
Strain the coconut and retain the water for the recipe.
Stir together coconut milk, condense milk, and evaporated milk.
Stir, well, the custard into the milk.
Stir in the mixed essence, salt and brown sugar to taste.
Strain the custard and milk mixture.
Pour into half-pound clear bags and tie securely. Store in the refrigerator until frozen.
This recipe will yields 32 small bags.
When you’re done making “sucker bag” you have the opportunity to try other coconut recipes from this blog. So don’t throw away the grated coconut. You can use it to make sweet bread or coconut bake.
Well that’s all for now until next time. Hoped you liked my coconut sucker bag.
Sucker Bag
Ingredients
- 8 cups water for the custard
- 5 cups water for coconut
- 2 tins 395 g condensed milk
- 1 tin 410 g evaporated milk
- 2-3 tbsp mixed essence
- 2 medium sized coconuts
- ¾ cups 100g custard powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ – 2 cups brown sugar
Instructions
- Boil the custard in water and leave to cool.
- Chop and blend the coconut in water until fine. Strain the coconut and retain the liquid for the recipe.
- Stir together coconut milk, condense milk, and evaporated milk. Stir, well, the custard into the milk. Stir in the mixed essence, salt and brown sugar to taste.
- Strain the custard and milk mixture. Pour into 1/2 lb clear bags and tie securely. Store in the refrigerator until frozen.
Hey- a couple weeks ago someone asked me on flickr for a recipe for this, and as I am not yet a custard maker, I was to ask my mother. So now I have forwarded them to this post!
Thanks for the comment. I do hope you become a custard maker and try out this recipe:^)
Wow! That’s a lovely idea and recipe! In my country, we have something like that but in thinner plastic tubes- about 1 foot long. The bag would be filled up with anything, from syrups to fruity juice. Tied up the open ends into knots and frozen like popsicles. To eat or ‘suck’ the plastic popsicles, we bite the either ends off 😀 Sure bring back childhood memories 🙂
We also have something similar to what you have. We call it penna cool and it tastes just as delicious. What do you call yours?
Wow, that sounds like an advanced version of what is called “boli” here!
I even found a photo here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Barranquilla_-_Boli.jpg
🙂
Here it’s mainly frozen fruit juice, but there is also with chocolate flavor.
Anyway, as I have been living here only for two and a half years, there might still be lots of flavors that I don’t know 😛
Something that is also very popular here is “shaved ice”, do you have it in Trinidad?
Foehre sucker bag comes in many varied flavours here in Trinidad and Tobago. One of my favourites is rum and raisin; it just hits the spot every time.
Yes we do have shaved ice here also be we call it Sno cone. I like my sno cone with some condensed milk in it!
wow! thanks felix i’m really loving this post.
OR SUGAR CAKE
I would like to try Peanut, Guiness and Rum and raisin do I still have to use custard.
Basically those are like a punch that you freeze ,so no you won’t have to use custard. Check out my posts for peanut punch and guinness punch for some ideas.
For the guinness you could leave out the egg.
I believe the soursop will work but the measurements I will have to work out. As for the different colours it is just a matter of using different food colouring. Thank you for the comment. 🙂
Does the same principle apply for say Sour sop as well? Also I believe there was a pink/red, yellow and a green flavor how do you go about those?
to get different colours yuh simply add food colouring
My pleasure thanks Felix I anxiously await the feedback
I’ll have to get a soursop first 🙂
Since I first came to New York I have yet to see one myself or pretty much any other so called exotic fruits
Allo Felix, I would like to make this recipe this weekend but would rather not go throuh the arduous task of cracking coconuts.
I have, instead, powdered coconut mik which can be mixed either thin or thick according to the back of the package.
Am I to understand from the recipe that I am supposed to end up with 5 cups of coconut mlik (5 cupas water blended with the two medium whole coconuts)? Should I just make 5 cups of coconut milk from the powdered coconut? Should I make thin of thick as per the package instructions?
Any ideas?
By any chance did you ever post the recipe for soursop sucker bag?
dc
Hi DC, you always surprise me. If you must, make sure the milk is thick. A thin mixture would make it too icy and the blocks will not taste creamy. By the way, here is a link to soursop ice blocks. Just use the same mixture and place in a bag.
yes we do its called snow cone