Coconut Sugar – not so naughty, and definitely nice
Coconut sugar has boomed in popularity as people have become more aware about the sweet stuff they ingest. Those looking for a healthier alternative to bleached highly-processed sugar have stumbled upon a treasure chest, and the word is getting out.
Here we reveal the story behind this crunchy sweet delight; how it’s made and how it can be used.
Let’s start off with some old news: that is, coconut sugar isn’t actually a newbie. It’s long existed in the Eastern World. It stands to reason that in countries where coconuts are easily grown, in preference to sugar cane and sugar beet, that it would be used to make a common sweetener.
It’s appealing to us in the West because, being produced on a smaller scale it inevitably has a less intense processing journey. Organic coconut sugar is also easier to source and trace, again because of the smaller scale of farming and production.
What is coconut sugar?
Get in your mind the image of a coconut tree, rather than the husky shell encased ‘nut’. Coconut sugar could actually be called ‘coconut blossom sugar’ – it comes from the flower of the palm tree. The sap is collected from the ‘bud’ and this milky sweet liquid is then crystalized by heating. It is composed of sucrose, fructose and glucose. Hence it is so sweet. Unlike the white table sugar you are familiar with, it also contains fibre which naturally lowers the glycaemic index. For a sweet stuff, that’s great news.
It doesn’t taste overtly of coconut, but has a sweet caramel and somewhat neutral flavour.
From harvest to production: coconut sugar’s journey
Coconuts are the fruit of the palm tree. Like with your garden apple tree or the glorious cherry blossom of spring, before the fruit is produced come the blossom. Before the blossom are the buds. The large buds on the coconut palm contain sap. The buds are ‘tapped’ by making cuts just below them and, using a hollow bamboo pipe, the milky sap is collected.
To avoid fermentation, the sap is collected twice a day and cooked within a few hours of harvesting. Organic coconut sugar may have jackfruit bark powder or mangosteen added to the sap at this point to slow down the fermentation, allowing longer before it has to be heated. Organic coconut sugar also requires that the coconut trees themselves are organically grown.
Processing the sap is largely confined to heating it. This enables the moisture to evaporate. As this happens, the liquid becomes more caramel coloured and sticky, which is what we call coconut nectar. As the heating continues, the nectar crystalizes and sticky crunchy sugar is formed. By allowing the crystals to cool before packaging, any remaining moisture evaporates and it’s a little less sticky and fluffier in texture.
Unlike the white table sugar you are used to, no bleach or preservatives are added. What you get is 100% coconut sugar.
Is coconut sugar healthier than standard sugar?
Let’s be honest – sugar is sugar. And a sugar habit isn’t exactly good for you. However, not all sugars are created equally and organic coconut sugar is at the healthier end of the spectrum compared with standard white table sugar. It’s less processed, has a lower GI rating because of the fibre, and it also contains trace elements from the coconut sap.
It’s quite unique for a sugar to have nutrients present at all. Yet coconut sugar has potassium, zinc, iron, magnesium and calcium to name just a few. In fact it contains a whopping 400 times more potassium than table sugar.
Its balance is also different. Very little of coconut sugar is made up of glucose. Instead, around half of the carbohydrate comes from fructose.
What’s more, unlike regular table sugar, it’s far less refined, doesn’t contain additives and preservatives, is typically non-GMO, and often organic.
So, whilst we wouldn’t say that any sugar is ‘healthy’ as such, it is most definitely healthier than other sugar items. And given we all need a little sweetness in our lives, opting for a healthier alternative is a good plan.
How can you use coconut sugar?
There are stack loads of coconut sugar recipes out there. If you want to dive straight in then you won’t go wrong with our Sticky Coconut Caramel Date Puddings, which are perfect for a cold winter’s evening, or our Double Chocolate Banana Loaf, which is a firm favourite with a anyone from toddlerhood upwards.
Coconut sugar is a great product to have in your store cupboard and you can use it in lots of cooking and baking. You can use it to make a sticky Asian glaze for tofu chunks or salmon, or even simply neat in your cup of coffee.
You can even use it for making natural sugar scrubs for exfoliation; it’s remarkably simple. Take one part coconut sugar to two parts coconut oil, and add in some of your favourite essential oil and mix together. Pop in a jar and there’s your ready-made scrub! It’s fabulous for cleansing, toning, exfoliating and moisturising, all in one natural hit!
Are the ethics sweet and sustainable?
Of course, we don’t just care about whether the sugar is a good natural product. Most of us also care about the impact of the products we buy on the local ecosystems and people of where it is produced.
This is an area where The Coconut Company shines. We work closely with farmers and producers of organic coconut sugar in the Philippines where we can literally trace the sugar from individual organic palms to the packet. We ensure the farmers and producers in the Philippines are paid a fair wage as well as receive other benefits such as healthcare and education access for their families. We ensure that we don’t intensively farm, so that each tree is sustainable, using less water and ensuring no nasty chemicals end up in local waterways.
Coconut sugar is undoubtedly more sustainable than sugar cane as it draws fewer nutrients from the soil yet produces more sugar per acre. It’s also much less industrialised.
If you are aiming for a balanced and healthy diet that relies on natural sources and wholefoods, then coconut sugar is the not-so-naughty but nice alternative to table sugar. Get your organic coconut sugar from a trusted source.