Jamoncillo de Coco Costeño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan or copper cazo
• •Wooden spoon with a flat edge
• •Box grater or hand coconut grater
• •8-inch square pan or shallow clay platter
• •Lightly buttered knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pan

   Butter an 8-inch square pan or a shallow clay platter and line the bottom with parchment if you want clean edges. Keep it beside the stove. Once the jamoncillo reaches the right point, it waits for nobody.

2. 2

   Grate the coconut

   Crack the mature coconut, drain it, pry out the meat, peel off the dark skin if you want a paler candy, and grate the white flesh on the fine side of a box grater. Do not use desiccated coconut. It is dry, tired, and it drinks the syrup instead of cooking into it. Fresh coconut gives the candy its chew and its coastal flavor.

   If the coconut smells sour or soapy, throw it out. Good coconut smells clean, sweet, and a little grassy.
3. 3

   Dissolve the piloncillo

   Combine the whole milk, chopped piloncillo, canela stick, and salt in a heavy 4-quart saucepan or copper cazo. Set over medium heat and stir until the piloncillo melts completely. The milk will turn the color of wet clay. That color is from the cane, not from caramel coloring. This is why white sugar is the wrong ingredient here.

4. 4

   Cook the milk base

   Bring the mixture to a steady simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the milk reduces and thickens enough to coat the spoon. Scrape the bottom and corners of the pot. Milk sweets burn from below while the top still looks innocent. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Add the coconut

   Remove the canela stick. Stir in the grated fresh coconut and the sweetened condensed milk. Keep cooking over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly now, for 30 to 40 minutes. The mixture will go from loose and glossy to thick, heavy, and grainy at the edges. When you drag the spoon across the bottom, the path should stay open for two seconds before the candy closes back in.

6. 6

   Find the point

   Drop a small spoonful onto a cool plate. Let it sit for 30 seconds. It should hold its shape and feel firm but still bend when pressed. If it spreads like sauce, cook five minutes more. If it crumbles immediately, you took it too far. The correct point is learned by watching the pot, not by wandering away.

7. 7

   Beat and set

   Turn off the heat. Stir in the remaining butter and beat the candy hard with the wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes, until it loses some shine and thickens against the spoon. Scrape it into the prepared pan and press it evenly with a buttered spatula or your wet fingers. The top should be flat, not polished like a pastry shop window.

8. 8

   Cut the bars

   Let the jamoncillo cool at room temperature for 2 hours, until firm. Cut into small squares or rectangles with a lightly buttered knife. Serve on a dark clay platter with coffee, atole, or nothing at all. It is sweet enough to stand by itself. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy a mature brown coconut and grate it yourself. Frozen grated coconut is a compromise if it is unsweetened and still moist. Desiccated coconut is not for this recipe.
• •Piloncillo is not the same as brown sugar. Piloncillo tastes of cane, smoke, and mineral. Brown sugar tastes like white sugar wearing a little molasses. Use the cone.
• •A copper cazo gives even heat, but a heavy stainless pot works. A thin aluminum saucepan will scorch the milk before the candy reaches the right point.
• •If the jamoncillo sets too soft, return it to the pot with two tablespoons of milk and cook it again. If it sets too hard and crumbly, slice it small and serve it with hot coffee. Waste nothing. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Advance Preparation

• •Jamoncillo de coco can be made 3 days ahead. Keep it covered at room temperature in a cool kitchen, or refrigerate it if your kitchen is hot and humid.
• •Cut bars can be wrapped in wax paper and stored in an airtight tin for up to 1 week. The coconut chew becomes firmer by the second day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 23g)