Colombian Cocadas (Coconut Sweets)
Colombian cocadas are coconut sweets cooked in a pot rather than baked: grated coconut simmered with panela and coconut water until the mixture thickens, then spooned onto a tray to set as it cools. They keep for two weeks and need no oven. Makes about twelve.
Servings: 12
Calories: 120kcal
Ingredients
- 1½ cups coconut water unsweetened; not coconut milk
- 2½ cups grated coconut fresh or frozen; avoid sweetened desiccated coconut
- ¾ cup panela, grated, or brown sugar panela is the traditional one and comes in a solid block, hence the grating
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Put the coconut water, grated coconut, panela or sugar, milk and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat.
- Let it simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes, until the mixture is genuinely thick. It is ready when a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a trail that stays open, and a spoonful dropped on a plate holds its shape instead of spreading.
- Stir often with a wooden spoon so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pot and catch.
- Once it is ready, spoon small mounds onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Not kitchen paper: the hot mixture sticks to it and tears when you lift the cocadas off.
- Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Let them cool completely. They set as they cool and will not firm up much beyond that, so if they are still soft after a couple of hours, the mixture needed longer in the pot.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 159mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg