Catalan Coca Recipe

Saint John Coca with Cream

• Dough: bread flour (500 g), fresh yeast (30 g), milk (120 ml), sugar (80 g), eggs (3), butter (at room temperature, 85 g), salt
• Pastry cream: vanilla (1 pod), egg (4 yolks), cornstarch (40 g), sugar (125 g), milk (half a litre)
• Decoration: pine nuts (50 g)

1. This Catalan coca recipe is not only eaten on St. John’s Eve, but you can get it in bakeries in Catalonia all year round. To prepare it at home, the first step is to make the pastry cream. In a saucepan pour the milk and the vanilla without seeds until it reaches boiling point. Set aside.
2. With the help of a whisk, add the cornstarch, the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl until the mixture is well blended.
3. Pour the milk slowly, stirring it throughout the process. Put the cream on the fire to thicken it and let it cool down.
4. When you have the pastry cream, continue with the recipe for sweet Catalan coca. In a bowl put all the ingredients of the dough except the butter and knead.
5. After resting for at least 15 minutes, add the butter and knead again. Let it rest again, this time until its volume increases.
6. Put the dough on the counter and knead again. Stretch with the help of a rolling pin until it has a rectangular shape. Place on a baking tray on baking paper and decorate as shown in the picture. It is best to use a pastry bag. You can also decorate it with candied fruits.
7. Put the Saint John Coca in the oven preheated to 190ºC for half an hour, checking that it is well done.

Recapte Coca with Butifarra (Catalan sausage)

• Dough: water (200 ml), olive oil (70 ml), wheat flour (500 g), fresh yeast (30 g), salt
• Escalivada: aubergine (1), onion (1), red pepper (1)
• On the coca: small sardines or butifarra

1. The first thing will be to prepare the dough for our 4 recapte cocas. Start by pouring the warm water together with the yeast into a bowl until it melts.
2. Mix with the rest of the ingredients of the dough except the oil. The dough should rest for at least 3 hours to increase its size.
3. After this knead the dough and add the olive oil. Mix all the ingredients together again. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes.
4. It is time to prepare the escalivada. Clean the aubergine and pepper and peel the onion. Put them in an oven dish with oil and bake them for 45 minutes. In order to cook them on both sides, halfway through the time, turn the vegetables over. When they are cold, peel them and cut them into strips.
5. With the oven preheated to 180ºC, divide the dough into four parts and shape it into a rectangle. Place the escalivada on the dough together with the butifarra in pieces, although you can also decorate it with sardines.
6. Bake in the oven for at least 20 minutes, until the dough is cooked on the outside and inside. A simple Catalan coca recipe that you can prepare only with the escalivada and it will be just as delicious.