🪔 This is one of our Diwali crafts, back in the spotlight from Sunday, 18 October 2026 — but you can make it any time you like.

Pink Coconut Barfi

Professor O will help you learn: Children help make coconut barfi, a sweet fudge-like treat often shared with family, friends and neighbours at Diwali. They see how gently heating condensed milk and coconut drives off water so the mixture thickens and sets as it cools, and practise measuring and cutting into equal squares.

⚠️ An adult must do all the cooking on the hob, as the hot mixture can spit and burn. Contains milk. Coconut is not usually classed as a tree nut in the UK, but check with anyone who has a nut allergy, and leave off the pistachio topping for nut allergies. Chopped nuts are a choking risk for young children.

Steps

Tap any step to play from there — the narration plays inside the player.

1▶

Line the tin with baking paper and wash your hands.

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2▶

Measure the coconut and cardamom into a bowl and stir them together.

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3▶

Pour the condensed milk into the saucepan and tip in the coconut mixture.

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4▶

Watch while an adult stirs it over a low heat for about 5 minutes until it thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

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5▶

Ask the adult to spoon half the mixture into the tin and press it flat.

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6▶

Stir the pink food colouring into the rest of the mixture, then have the adult spread it over the top as a second layer.

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7▶

Sprinkle over the chopped pistachios and press them in gently.

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8▶

Leave to cool, then chill in the fridge for 2 hours until firm.

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9▶

Cut into equal squares and share your barfi with family and friends.

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Make it your own: Make a second batch without colouring, then compare how long each tray takes to set and share them with a neighbour.

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