Destination
Rio de Janeiro
The story
Cocada is Brazil's coconut candy: fresh grated coconut cooked slowly with sugar (and sometimes condensed milk, coconut milk, lime or clove) until it turns thick, sticky and just the right side of chewy. In Salvador you'll find it sold on every beach and street corner by Baianas in white lace, straight from the pan, wrapped in wax paper. Two main styles: cocada branca (white, sticky, held together with condensed milk) and cocada queimada (burnt, deep-caramel, more Portuguese in feel). Every vendor has both.
Method
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until fully dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook 3 to 4 minutes to make a light syrup.
Stir in the grated coconut, salt and cloves if using. Reduce the heat to low.
Cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick, glossy and the syrup has almost fully absorbed. It should look like a wet coconut porridge that holds its shape when you drag the spoon across the pan.
For cocada branca, stir in the condensed milk and cook another 5 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and pulling away from the sides of the pan. For queimada, skip the condensed milk and keep cooking until the sugar starts to catch and turn amber, another 3 to 5 minutes.
Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and vanilla if using. If adding nuts, fold them in now.
Line a tray with baking paper. Drop tablespoon-sized mounds onto the tray, spacing them slightly apart. Leave to cool and set at room temperature, at least 20 minutes.
Peel off the paper and serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight tin at room temperature, up to 5 days.
Tips
- Fresh coconut is the ideal. Frozen grated coconut (sold in Brazilian and Asian grocers) is a very good second. Desiccated coconut works but the texture is drier: soak it in a splash of coconut milk for 10 minutes before starting.
- Stir constantly at the end. The sugar and condensed milk catch and burn quickly once the mixture thickens. A wooden spoon and a low flame are your friends here.
- Lime at the end is the Bahian move. The acid cuts the aggressive sweetness and makes the coconut flavour cleaner. Don't skip it even if the recipe looks fine without.
- For cocada queimada, let the sugar go darker before adding the coconut. A shade past golden gives you the caramelised, slightly bitter edge that defines the queimada style.
- Cocada keeps well but never quite improves. Eat within 3 days for the best texture. Beyond that it dries out and turns grainy.
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