Papelón con Limón (Venezuelan Panela Limeade)
Venezuela's favorite cold drink: unrefined cane sugar dissolved in water with fresh lime juice, over lots of ice.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Papelón is unrefined cane sugar sold in hard brown blocks, the same product called panela or piloncillo in other Latin countries. Dissolved in water with fresh lime juice, it becomes papelón con limón, the cold drink that goes with arepas, empanadas and long hot afternoons in Venezuela. It tastes of molasses and caramel, brightened by the lime.
The hard block is the only tricky part, and the Thermomix® TM7™ takes care of it: it heats the pieces with water and stirs until they melt into a smooth syrup. Cold water and lime juice cool it down, and after a short rest in the fridge, your pitcher is ready.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Papelón con Limón (Venezuelan Panela Limeade)
Makes: About 1.75 L (7 cups), 6 glasses
- Prep10 min
- Cook10 min
- Total1 h 20 min
- Serves6
Ingredients
To serve
Instructions
- With a large, heavy knife, break the papelón into chunks of about 3 cm (1 in). Place them in the mixing bowl with the 500 g water.
- Cook 10 min/90°C (195°F)/speed 2, until the papelón has completely dissolved. If a few pieces are left, cook 3 min/90°C (195°F)/speed 2 more.
- Add 500 g of the cold water and the lime juice and mix 10 sec/speed 3. Taste, and add more lime juice if you like it tangier.
- Pour into a large pitcher, stir in the remaining 500 g cold water and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Serve in tall glasses over plenty of ice, with a slice of lime.
Tips
- Look for the blocks in the Hispanic aisle of Sedano's, Publix and Walmart, labeled papelón, panela or piloncillo. Ground panela works too and dissolves even faster.
- For papelón con limón with ginger, cook a 3 cm (1 in) piece of fresh ginger, sliced, with the syrup and strain it out before adding the lime.
- The drink keeps 3 days in the fridge. The syrup alone, without the lime, keeps 2 weeks in a closed jar, so you can mix a fresh pitcher any time.
