Coca de San Juan, an easy recipe for the delicious sweet that starts the summer season.

Total: 4 h 35 min Diners: 8

The coca de San Juan – or coques de Sant Joan – is one of the most popular recipes in Catalonia and the Valencian Community (Spain) to celebrate the night of San Juan, just as the Galicians do in their area on the same date, but with the bolla larpeira. Two very similar recipes that seek to highlight one from the other, what fantastic things has our recipe book, right?

So that we all understand each other, we are facing a sourdough (bread, yes, bread) enriched with butter, sugar and eggs, a light brioche that does not have much added and that is neither too sweet nor has much flavor, for my taste it is even a little silly. The grace here, undoubtedly, is what is put on top of the coca de San Juan. This version is perhaps the most typical with custard (yeeeeeeeeah, let’s go with two recipes in one!) and pine nuts although there are also those with cream, candied fruit, almonds or marzipan.

You have to keep in mind that, being a sourdough, it will be crucial to use strong flour, also baker’s yeast, knead thoroughly if you don’t have a mixer and respect the fermentation times so that your coca is silky and airy, with a very fluffy interior. The pastry cream should be prepared, of course, the night before so that it has enough time to cool completely inside the piping bag and so we can pour it well over our dough, before it makes the second and final fermentation.

As in Cocinillas we already have a coca de San Juan without lactose, this goes with all the necessary lactose added, the traditional recipe although in some places it is prepared directly with lard which would make that we eliminate suddenly and suddenly the lactose in the dough if we change the milk for water later. Of course, there are more recipes besides this one to celebrate the night of San Juan and even some gastronomic routes to make the party in style.

How to make coca de San Juan

Ingredients

For the dough

Strong flour, 480 g Medium egg, 3 pcs Whole milk, 120 ml Sugar, 95 g Salt, a pinch Dry baker’s yeast, 8 g Butter, 90 g

For the dough

For the custard

For the pastry cream

Lemon rind, 1 slice Whole milk, 250 ml Egg, 1 pc Sugar, 80 g Cornstarch, 23 g

Step 1

Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl except the butter and knead well, with the help of a mixer or with our own hands, until we get a dense, but smooth, non-sticky, soft dough.

Step 2

Incorporate then little by little the butter that will have to be at room temperature, at room temperature as we say, so that it integrates more easily. Creamy, that is to say, creamy, not liquid or melted; the one has nothing to do with the other.

Step 3

When the butter has been incorporated and our dough is elastic and shiny, it is time to make it into a ball and let it rise in a previously oiled bowl, at room temperature, in a place away from drafts. Always covered with plastic wrap (not on contact) so that it does not dry out. Personally I like to use shower caps to cover bowls when there are doughs fermenting, it is very comfortable and can be reused many times.

Step 4

While this first fermentation is taking place we could also make the pastry cream, although we will have to cool it quickly in the freezer, stretching it a lot. To do this we mix the yolks with the corn starch and the sugar with the help of a whisk in a bowl and heat the milk in a saucepan with the lemon peel. When the milk is about to boil, pour it little by little over the yolks, stirring constantly.

Step 5

Put the mixture back in the saucepan, remove the lemon peel and cook over medium/low heat until it starts to take consistency. Be very careful because if you overcook it, it will curdle and you will have to do it again. It is important to never stop stirring with the whisk.

Step 6

When the cream is ready, put it in a bowl and cool it completely. Then mix it a little and put it in a piping bag with a curly nozzle on. Chill it a lot.

Step 7

Soak the pine nuts, so that they don’t burn in the oven

.Step 8

When the dough has doubled in volume, turn it out onto a baking sheet with a piece of paper on it and stretch it well, so that it is 1 cm or 1.5 thick.

Step 9

Make some incisions with the knife forming a lattice all over the surface and put lines of cream all over the lattice, guiding us by these incisions.

Step 10

Remove the pine nuts from the water and arrange them on top of the coca. Cover and leave to ferment for 1 hour again.

Step 11

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC with heat up and down and, when the coca has fermented, put it in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Until golden brown and cooked.

Step 12

Remove from the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.