Coca de llanda recipe, the typical sponge cake of the Valencian Community

Coca de llanda is one of the most typical sweets of the Valencian Community, ideal as breakfast or afternoon snack. It is a very easy to make sponge cake with a very traditional flavour. Its dough is made with flour, eggs, oil, sugar and lemon zest. The crust that forms on its surface is very characteristic; the result of baking the sugar and cinnamon that are sprinkled on top.

This Valencian sponge cake receives different names according to the province: coca boba or secreta in Alicante, coca mal feta or mida in Castellón and coca de llanda or de mida in Valencia. However, the recipe is practically the same and its origin is uncertain. It is attributed to a time when resources were scarce and basic products such as those included in the recipe were available; later on, the lemon was added. Moreover, nowadays it is common to find it with chocolate chips, covered with cocoa or filled with chocolate.

Ingredients for coca de llanda (big):

500 g of flour
500 g sugar
3 eggs
500 ml of milk
250 ml of mild olive oil
3 double sachets of gasificante/gaseosa (or 16 g of Royal baking powder or baking soda)
Zest of one or two lemons (depending on whether you want more or less lemon flavour)
Cinnamon to sprinkle
Rectangular mould (40×27 cm would be ideal)

How to make Coca de llanda:

In a bowl, pour the eggs and sugar (reserve some sugar to pour when the coca de llanda dough is ready to be baked). Mix the eggs and sugar, and then gradually add the oil. Also add the lemon zest and the milk little by little. When everything is well mixed, gradually add the flour too. Beat well until everything is mixed in, then add the gasificante (the three double sachets) or baking soda and mix again.
Cover the rectangular mould for the coca de llanda with parchment paper. Then pour all the mixture into it and sprinkle the sugar you had reserved earlier on top. Also sprinkle plenty of cinnamon on top, so that it covers everything. This mixture of sugar and cinnamon will form the characteristic crust of this traditional dessert from the Valencia region.
With the oven preheated to 200ºC, put your coca de llanda in and let it bake for 30 minutes. Once the time has passed, take it out, let it cool down and accompany it with a delicious hot chocolate.