The Best Date Ball Recipe I've ever tried

I've tried a lot of date ball recipes but this one, from an old family friend, is by far the best. Once you get the hang of it, it produces perfect results every time and I get a lot of repeat orders from this recipe:

250g dates
250g margarine
250g sugar
1 egg, beaten to within an inch of its life
2,5ml vanilla essence
5 ml lemon juice
250g Marie biscuits (Broken into relatively small pieces.)
Dessicated coconut for decoration

Cut up dates and set aside. In a heavy based saucepan, melt butter and sugar together over a moderate heat, stirring frequently. When sugar has mostly dissolved, turn up heat to high and add dates. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Boil for about 7 minutes or until mixture is thick and gooey. Be careful that the mixture doesn't burn at the bottom.

Remove from heat, add lemon juice and vanilla essence. Quickly stir in beaten egg. (This must be quick or you'll end up with date balls with a scrambled egg center.).

Set mixture aside and allow to cool enough to handle. Roll a teaspoonful at a time into a ball and roll balls in coconut.

Allow to set in fridge.

Depending on the size of each ball, this recipe will make about 48-50 balls.

Enjoy.