Coconut sugar is a great substitute for regular sugar. It has a deep and earthy flavor with a caramel hint on top of it. Its base flavor is quite similar to brown sugar, but coconut sugar has a more distinctive and unique taste. Coconut sugar is made from the sap of coconut palm trees. Sometimes coconut sugar is also known as coconut palm sugar or coconut crystal, and a lot of other names! Every origin of the coconut sugar maker has its own special name. For example, coconut sugar in Indonesia is called “Gula Jawa” or “Gula Merah”.
How to make coconut sugar?
Coconut sugar is made by a two-step process. Starting from harvesting by tapping the sap and it’s collected in bamboo tubes. Then, continued with heating the sap will evaporate the moisture content until it becomes a very thick and viscous mixture. From this point, it can be further processed by reducing more moisture to become crystal. The crystal form then can be formed as a block, granulated or even formulated to become a liquid syrup form.
Read this : The Story Behind Coconut Sugar: Coconut Sap
If you’re wondering.. “Can I make coconut sugar at home?”
You could… but if you think about it again, not really. As explained above, the making process is complex. Aside from that, the raw material which is the sap of coconut palm trees is rarely found in the market. It might be because the sap has a short shelf life. If you really want to try to make it, prepare yourself to willingly slave over a hot stove. The sap is extracted, boiled, and then dehydrated.
So making coconut sugar is not a simple or easy thing to do in your kitchen. All the more reasons to just buy coconut sugar from the store is you can support small farmers indirectly. Those farmers are very well experienced in making coconut sugar traditionally, with guidance from the industrial companies resulting in high quality organic coconut sugar without harmful chemicals or treated with additives nor preservatives.
Can you grind coconut sugar? Here’s an option you can do at home
Sometimes, a lot of traditionally made coconut sugar is sold in blocks. The coconut sugar block is basically the less processed coconut sugar compared to other forms of coconut sugar. But it can be less convenient, to make it easier to use you can grind it first before using.
Chop the block to become medium sized chunks, then place it inside a grinder. How long is based on your preference, if you want the coconut sugar to be very fine just grind it longer, vice versa. Shortcut? Just buy granulated coconut sugar! So you can use coconut sugar for cooking, Here some of the easiest and favourite choices: It’s wonderful to be used in baking recipes.
You can read how to make coconut sugar cookies here : Surprising Ways to Use Coconut Sugar For Cooking
Where to buy coconut sugar?
It’s a greater choice to just buy coconut sugar. You can save time and all the hard work, what a convenience! Coconut sugar could be found in supermarkets or local grocery stores, or you can buy it online. Double check the ingredient list to make sure you buy the correct coconut sugar. Because, sometimes it can be mistaken for palm sugar. Or.. you can get organic certified coconut sugar that’s guaranteed to be delicious with high quality and at the same time supporting small farmers in rural regions of Indonesia. Just buy it here:
Indo Coconut Sugar - the best and larger high quality coconut sugar supplier and manufacturer in Indonesia