Piloncillo is an unrefined and uniquely flavored sugar that is utilized in Mexican cooking for all types of dishes. Find out everything you need to know about this sweetener in the following guide — including some tasty plant-based recipe ideas!
Table of Contents
📖 What is piloncillo?
Piloncillo (pronounced pee-lon-SEE-yoh) is the raw form of cane sugar. In English, "piloncillo" translates to "pylon," which is likely where the name comes from. It's found primarily in Mexico and other Latin American countries as a natural sweetener.
How it's made
Piloncillo cones are made in just a few simple steps:
- Crush sugar cane in mills and collect the juice.
- Boil and reduce until it resembles a thick, molasses-like consistency.
- Pour syrup into cone-shaped molds.
- Dry and cool until the piloncillo hardens.
Varieties
Similar to brown sugar, piloncillo sugar comes in different varieties. The main ones are:
- Piloncillo oscuro (dark).
- Piloncillo blanco (light).
Each type provides slightly unique flavor characteristics and is used for different recipes.
🍴 Flavor profile
Piloncillo is often described as having a rich, sweet, caramel-like flavor with notes of molasses and earthiness.
To differentiate oscuro (dark) from blanco (light), think about the differences between dark and light brown sugar.
Piloncillo oscuro provides bold, complex flavors with heavy molasses notes. On the other hand, piloncillo blanco is lighter, less pronounced, and usually sweeter.
🍎 Health facts
Piloncillo is a great alternative to processed sugar since it's natural, organic, and only made from one ingredient — sugar cane.
Because it goes through very minimal processing, there is no change in color or flavor of piloncillo sugar (compared to white sugar).
But wait, there's more! Piloncillo contains vitamins like D, E, A, and C along with minerals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, and copper.
Although it's by no means a "health food," we think it's important to know there are at least some benefits of using piloncillo over other refined sweeteners.
🔪 How to use it
You can use piloncillo in a variety of different recipes as a sweetener or a spice. Add it to coffee, melt it into syrup, use it when baking cookies, or mix it with spices like cayenne or star anise.
How to break it up
There are a few different ways to break up a piloncillo cone for recipes. A simple technique is to grate it on a cheese grater. Alternatively, you can roughly chop it with a knife.
Our preferred method is the grater as it creates a fine texture similar to brown sugar.
If you'll be melting down a whole piloncillo cone, you don't have to grate or chop it at all. It will just take longer to melt.
📋 Recipes with piloncillo
With so many tasty recipes out there that feature piloncillo, we've narrowed down some of our favorite plant-based dishes that include:
🌡️ Storage
Piloncillo is easy to keep around for a long time, especially if it's stored in the right conditions.
It's best to keep the cones in a cool, dark, and dry place like a cupboard or pantry.
We like to wrap ours with plastic wrap and store them in airtight glass containers as we find it keeps insects out and moisture levels controlled.
💰 Buying guide
Your kitchen could use a few cones of piloncillo kicking around to sweeten up your favorite recipes. With an extremely long shelf life, you have nothing to lose by keeping this sugar on hand!
What to look for
You'll first need to decide if you want to impart heavy flavors of molasses or more soft, subtle, and sweet flavors. This will help you determine if you need dark or light piloncillo.
Next, it's important to find cones that are dry, wrapped, and not broken or cracked.
Piloncillo cones come in different sizes, ranging from 1 to 9 ounces. Depending on the recipe you're making, you may want to invest in a kitchen scale for more accurate measurements.
You may also find pre-grated piloncillo in packaging. Just make sure the bag is resealable or you have adequate storage containers at home.
Where to buy
Piloncillo can be found at most Latin American or Mexican markets if you happen to live by one. It may also go by the name panela so be sure to ask for both.
If you're having no luck, the best way to obtain piloncillo cones is by ordering them online.
♻️ Substitutions
Although piloncillo has a distinct flavor profile, there are some great substitutions if you're in a pinch.
- Brown sugar. The easiest replacement for piloncillo is brown sugar at a 1:1 ratio. If you want to emulate the rich complexity of piloncillo oscura, use dark brown sugar since there is more molasses added to it (you can even add a touch more molasses).
- Cane sugar & molasses. If you can't find brown sugar for some reason, use a 1:1 ratio of cane sugar and even more molasses to yield similar flavors to piloncillo.
💬 FAQ
No. Sometimes piloncillo is referred to as Mexican brown sugar, but they are actually quite different. Brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses added to it. Piloncillo is just unprocessed cane sugar.
Yes, piloncillo is known as panela outside of Mexico. In fact, it's known by many different names, like rapadura or chancaca, depending on the country.
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