I have been really curious about piloncillo, but also really intimidated by the large, brown cones. The sugar I have bought all of my life has come as fine, pure white granules. Or sometimes soft brown in a bag. I had no idea what to do with a hard brick of sugar. But, finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I brought a few cones home.
The first thing I did when I got my piloncillo home was to cut off a small piece and taste it. The flavor is smoky, earthy, caramely, and multidimensional. It reminded me a lot of a prailine and is pretty darn good eaten as-is. I also discovered that it is quite soft once you breach the outer shell. My mind exploded with all the foods that would be dang yummy made with this sugar: barbecue sauce, roasted pork loin, gingerbread, vinaigrettes, ham, sweet potatoes, ice cream.
The next thing I did was a little research so I had a better idea of what I was dealing with and how it might behave when I cooked with it. I discovered that it is one of the most unrefined sugars you can buy, which is a real plus. It is also rich in calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, and iron. Piloncillo is still made using the same primitive and ancient process as it was in 1500. Sugar cane is crushed and shredded. The juice that is extracted is boiled down and concentrated. Once it crystallizes, the sugar is drained into molds. It contains both sucrose and fructose, which makes it perfect for candy making. The presence of both sugars will keep crystals from forming in your candy without having to add corn syrup to the mix.
I also discovered that people in the US are paying a lot for "artisanal" colonial sugar which is pretty much the same thing as piloncillo, it just costs a whole lot more. Forget trendy – go to your nearest Latin market. Piloncillo gets its name from the cone shape, but it can also come as disks or blocks, in which case it it is referred to as panela or panocha.
Try to buy your piloncillo from a store that sells a lot of it. If your piloncillo is dry and hard all the way through, you probably shouldn't buy from that store anymore, but you don't have to throw it away. Break it as much as you can, then put it in a pot with some water and boil. When the syrup starts to thicken, remove from heat, let cool, and add some vanilla. You can pour this syrup over pancakes, freanch toast, or ice cream or use it to sweeten your morning coffee or to make an excellent bread pudding.
I considered everything I could do with my new treasure, and the first thing I went for was butterscotch sauce. The flavor of real butterscotch is incomparable, and the jars you find on the grocery store shelves are a pale echo of the real thing. Butterscotch was originally made with unrefined sugar, so piloncillo is perfect. And it turned out soooo good. If I can avoid it, I will never use the feeble flavor of white sugar in my cooking again.
Piloncillo Butterscotch Sauce
1 9-ounce cone piloncillo, grated with a cheese grater50 grams butter (about 4 tablespoons)
255ml (8 ounces) medium cream
½ - 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine piloncillo and butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the mixture looks less like wet sand and more like a liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and whisk until you have a uniform mixture. Whisk every few minutes while the mixture continues to cook for another 10 minutes. It will come to a boil near the end of the cooking time.
Pour the mixture into a heat proof bowl and let cool completely. You might want to check on it occasionally. It it starts to get too thick, which can happen if you had the burner too high, add a little more cream or water to thin it out.
When the sugar mixture is completely cool whisk in the vanilla and half the salt and taste. Gradually add more salt until you reach the perfect butterscotch flavor. A note of caution: if you use sea salt like I do, remember that it takes a few minutes to dissolve completely, so let the butterscotch rest and then whisk between salt additions or you may over salt it.
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Spoon over ice cream, pancakes, cheesecake...whatever. Or heck, just grab a spoon and go to town.
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|200.66.50.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s zoesterone@gmail.comI am SO glad you did it first. I, too, have cogitated about those cones and I can't wait to run out and grab a few. I am also a butterscotch freak, so that alone is good news and I like the nutritional value. Ha! nutrition from sugar...what a riot!
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferIt gets better. Piloncillo is as complete a food as honey. Several studies have been done about its health and medicinal applications. Industrial workers in dusty or smoky environments seemed to experience no discomfort if they consumed panela. It also prevents smoke-induced lung lesions. It cures thrush and prevents nutritious anemia and rickets. It is an important factor in the heath and vitality of babies in third world countries. The list goes on.
But more important perhaps than what piloncillo is, is what white sugar is not. The refining process for making white sugar removes the vitamins and minerals, along with the flavor; it leaves nothing behind but pure sucrose. It was discovered in 1793, when a vessel transporting sugar was shipwrecked, that eating sugar is worse than eating nothing at all. The stranded sailors were rescued five days later in an advanced state of emaciation. They had eaten nothing but white sugar. The process of digesting white sugar actually leaches vitamins, minerals, and proteins from the body, leaving the sailors in a much more advanced state of starvation than simply not eating for five days would have.
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|71.176.134.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Sandy matts - piloncilloThis was great - thank you. I have never tried to use piloncillo - did not know how. After reading your post I thnik it would make a great addition to baked beans. YUM SM
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|189.186.102.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s mazsilvaI use it a lot for baking I am going to post a recipe I have for cookies as soon as I find it. But mostly I use it for making Capirotada at Easter time. If you would like a recipe for Capirotada I will post it, my Mexican family seems to like it pretty well. So not to bad for a gringa I guess.
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferI would love to see your cookie and capirotada recipe. I have heard of capirotada, but never seen or tasted it. I am very curious.
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|71.176.134.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s sandy mattsWhat is capirotada - I looked in my Diana Kennedy cookbook and she does not have it included. Would love to learn more.
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|71.176.134.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s sandy mattsMexican Bread Pudding - I googled it and bunches of recipes came up - would be nice to see a "tried and true" from someone.
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|189.186.102.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s mazsilvaCapirotada ( Mexican Bread Pudding)
One Bag of toasted bread pieces (they sell them in every store during lent)
1 large cone of Piloncillo
2 Sticks of Cinnamon
Peanuts Salted (use the amount you like I love em so there is lots)
Raisins (Optional dont like them so dont put them in)
Couple cubes of butter
300 grams of grated Chihuahua Cheese or Mozarella can be used.
Butter a large casserole dish (some prefer to use a clay dish)
Place Piloncillo in a pan with about 6 cups of water and the cinammon, bring to a light boil until all the piloncillo is disolved, should look like a loose syrup. Not thick.
Place bread packed into buttered casserole dish about half way up the side, add half of grated cheese and half of peanuts and raisins. Start another layer until the dish is full but not over flowing,you will not use all the bread in the bag so you will have some for another batch.
Take your syrup and pour it all over the top, should come up to at least 3/4 of the dish, when you are done cover it tightly, I use the top from the casserole dish I have but you can use foil. Place on a cooking sheet as it will spill over sometimes, and place in a 180 c. preheated oven for about an hour, it will rise and start to turn brown on top. you can take off the foil but it will dry it out. Take it out of the oven and let it sit, it will deflate. Serve.
Many people add dried fruit like apricots and some add sweetened milk to their syrup but I find that it is just too sweet, my husband loves mine and so do my Mexican inlaws and I am the only one who makes it every year for lent in my family. Sometimes it is trial and error mine is sometimes too moist and sometimes too dry but most of the time it is just right, it comes with practice and also depends on the way you like it, the combination of the sweet pilloncillo and the salted peanuts and cheese is a great combo.
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jennifer - CapirotadaThank you for the detailed instructions. This sounds good. I also like the combination of sweet and savory. And I hate raisins, too!
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|71.176.143.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s SM - capirotadaTried your recipe and although it is good I don't think I filled the pan with enough bread - 3/4 full is what I did but maybe it should have been all the way full and the syrup only 3/4 up the side of the pan? Anyway I am glad I tried and love the taste of the piloncillo with the cinnamon stick in it. SM
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|200.77.74.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Viki Wilson - ButterscotchThanks for the info about butterscotch! I absolutely love it, and will give this a try. Just one question for you, since you are the "experimenter" when it comes to food. One recipe I dearly love calls for butterscotch chips....any ideas on how to make those, or do they have them here somewhere? If not, I may just try pouring the butterscotch over the other stuff, and see if it works that way.
Seven layer cookies is what I've got in mind...But maybe it would be better if I couldn't make them--they are SO fattening!
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferHi Viki. General internet wisdom seems to be to make butterscotch sauce and mix it with unsweetened white chocolate:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5831810_make-butterscotch-chips.html
But it seems to me that you could follow the basics of candy making and do it like you would peanut butter fudge. Maybe add half again as much cream and cook to soft ball stage (240 F), beat it with a wooden spoon as it cools, then, when it is thickened and smooth, but net set, put it in a pastry bag and pipe onto a cookie sheet. Or maybe spread it in a very shallow layer in a pan and cut it into tiny squares when it cools completely. What do you think?
And what is a seven layer cookie? It sounds divine!
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