Cocadas are a typical coconut candy or cookie served in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Brazil, Chile, and over much of Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. They are oven baked but are served at room temperature to provide their chewy and soft texture. Made with egg and shredded coconut, cocadas come in a variety of colors due to the modern use of food coloring

Food coloring

Food coloring is a substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...

, but the traditional ones are golden brown. They are often garnished with almonds, either whole or chopped. There are hundreds of cocadas recipes, from the typical hard, very sweet balls to cocadas that are almost the texture of flan. Other fruit, often dried, can be added to the cocadas to create variety. Cocadas are mentioned as early as 1878 in Peru.

In Colombia, cocadas are sold on the streets, and particularly on the beaches, by women who carry them on large aluminum trays.

External links

• Mexico Cooks!, photograph of cocadas.