Cocada

Ingredients

Coconut

• 1large fresh coconut, grated, about 400 g

Syrup

• 300 gpanela or dark brown sugar
• 100 gwhite sugar
• 200 mlwater
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cloves

To finish

• ½ tspgrated nutmeg
• ½ tspsalt
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• zest of 1 lime

Directions

1. Crack the coconut, prise out the flesh and grate it. Fresh coconut carries both fat and moisture that dried coconut lacks, and it is what makes a cocada chewy rather than dry and crumbly.
2. Melt the panela and the white sugar in the water with the cinnamon stick and cloves, and simmer for 10 minutes into a syrup.
3. Strain out the whole spices and return the syrup to the pan.
4. Add the grated coconut, nutmeg, salt and lime zest and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly.
5. Keep stirring and do not walk away at any point. Sugar and coconut together catch and scorch within seconds once the water has cooked off.
6. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the mixture pulls away from the base of the pan as a single mass and a spoon dragged through it leaves a trail that holds.
7. Stir in the vanilla off the heat.
8. Drop spoonfuls onto greased paper or a marble slab and shape them into rough mounds with two spoons.
9. Cool completely. They firm on the outside and stay chewy in the middle.
10. Wrap each in wax paper, which is how they are sold at Panamanian bus terminals and roadside stands along the interior highways.

Technique

• The trail test is the only reliable one. Timings shift with how wet the coconut was.
• Panela gives the colour and the faint molasses note. Made with white sugar alone it is a paler and much plainer sweet.
• They keep a fortnight wrapped, and firm up further as they sit.

Substitutions

• Desiccated coconut rehydrated in 200 ml of coconut milk for 30 minutes.
• Condensed milk in place of some of the syrup, for a softer, creamier cocada.

Variations

• Cocada blanca, made with white sugar only.
• With a splash of rum stirred in at the end.
• With chopped pineapple or guava cooked into the mixture.

History

Sold in wax paper at Panamanian bus terminals and roadside stands along the interior highways.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cocada?

Cocada is a dessert from Panama: grated coconut cooked with sugar and panela into chewy mounds. Sold in wax paper at Panamanian bus terminals and roadside stands along the interior highways.

How long does Cocada take to make?

Cocada takes 20 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 20 pieces. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Cocada?

Yes, within limits. Desiccated coconut rehydrated in 200 ml of coconut milk for 30 minutes. Condensed milk in place of some of the syrup, for a softer, creamier cocada.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cocada?

Crack the coconut, prise out the flesh and grate it. Fresh coconut carries both fat and moisture that dried coconut lacks, and it is what makes a cocada chewy rather than dry and crumbly.