Piloncillo

Piloncillo, also called panela or rapadura, is an unrefined whole cane sugar typical of Latin America, a solid form of sucrose made by boiling and evaporating sugarcane juice. Producers crush sugarcane to extract the juice, boil it down, and pour it into molds where it hardens into blocks, in Mexico usually shaped into small cones and called piloncillo, while Chile, Bolivia and Peru call the same kind of sugar chancaca and Portugal and Brazil call it rapadura; it was originally developed as an easier way to transport sugar. It has been used in Mexico for at least 500 years and is comparable to South Asian jaggery, both being non-centrifugal cane sugars. Colombia is the leading producer, making about 1.4 million tons a year, and the sugar is sold as liquid, granulated or solid blocks.