Cocada Preta e Branca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 3-liter saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or heatproof spatula
• •Lightly oiled baking tray
• •Box grater or food processor for fresh coconut

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the tray

   Lightly oil a baking tray or a slab of pale stone before you start cooking. Keep two spoons nearby. Cocada waits for no one once it reaches the ponto, and if you're hunting for a tray at the end, the candy firms in the pan and becomes your new kitchen problem.

2. 2

   Check the coconut

   Use fresh grated coconut if you can. It should smell sweet and clean, with moist shreds that clump lightly in your hand. Fresh coconut gives cocada its chew and its real flavor. The honest shortcut is frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed and squeezed lightly. It works. It won't taste as alive as fresh. Dried coconut is a last resort, and coconut powder is not dinner, not dessert, not a plan.

3. 3

   Cook the branca syrup

   Put the granulated sugar, 1/2 cup water, half the lime juice, and half the pinch of salt in a heavy pan over medium heat. Stir just until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and let it bubble until the syrup looks clear, shiny, and slightly thicker, about 6 to 8 minutes. The lime juice helps keep the syrup smooth instead of grainy, and leaving it alone keeps sugar crystals from climbing all over the pan like they own the place.

4. 4

   Finish the branca

   Add 2 cups grated coconut to the syrup and stir steadily over medium-low heat. Cook until the mixture thickens, turns glossy, and pulls away from the bottom when you drag the spoon through it, about 8 to 10 minutes. That's the ponto. Too soon and it puddles. Too late and it dries into a hard little lecture.

5. 5

   Shape the branca

   Drop spoonfuls onto the oiled tray, or press the mixture into a neat rectangle and score it into squares while still warm. Work quickly, because the sugar sets as it cools. If the edges look a little rough, good. We're making cocada, not asking it to wear a tiny tuxedo.

6. 6

   Melt the rapadura

   Put the chopped rapadura, 1/2 cup water, the remaining lime juice, and the remaining salt in the same heavy pan over medium heat. Stir until the rapadura melts, then simmer until the syrup is dark, glossy, and smells like deep caramel, about 8 to 10 minutes. Chop the rapadura small so it melts evenly. Big chunks make you cook too long waiting for them, and then the syrup gets bitter.

7. 7

   Finish the preta

   Add the remaining 2 cups grated coconut and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, darkens, and pulls away from the pan in a heavy mass, about 8 to 10 minutes. Watch the bottom and keep scraping. Rapadura brings flavor, but it can catch faster than white sugar, and burnt sugar is not depth, it's burnt sugar.

8. 8

   Shape and cool

   Drop or press the cocada preta beside the branca on the tray. Let both cool until firm, about 20 minutes, then cut or lift into pieces. They should hold their shape, feel chewy under the knife, and taste first of coconut, then sugar. That's the order. Sugar is the structure, not the boss.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh coconut matters here because there are almost no ingredients. If you use frozen unsweetened coconut, thaw it fully and squeeze only if it's dripping wet. Dry it too much and the cocada loses its chew.
• •Rapadura varies. Some blocks are soft and sandy, some are hard enough to make you question your knife. Chop carefully, or wrap it in a towel and tap it into pieces with a rolling pin.
• •Use a heavy pan. Thin pans make hot spots, hot spots burn sugar, and then you stand there blaming your hands when the pan was the problem.
• •Don't double the batch the first time. Sugar changes mood when the pan is crowded. Make one good batch, learn the ponto, then get ambitious.
• •Store cocada in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, or refrigerate for up to a week. The fridge makes it firmer, so let it sit out a few minutes before serving.

Advance Preparation

• •Grate the coconut up to 1 day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.
• •Cocada can be made 2 to 3 days ahead for a celebration and stored in an airtight container.
• •If refrigerating, separate layers with parchment so the pieces don't stick together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 34g)