Coca de Sant Joan

Every year on the night of June 23rd, all of Catalunya celebrates the summer solstice with one big night of fiery partying that lasts until dawn. In Barcelona, the streets will be filled with bonfires, open-air parties and happy intoxicated people setting off fireworks and taking midnight ocean swims in order to “cleanse their sins.” In between lighting fires, leaping into the sea, and guzzling Cava, the revelers will be eating Coca de Sant Joan, the traditional bread which is made in bakeries throughout Catalunya every year especially for La Nit de Sant Joan.

The Coca de Sant Joan is so important to Catalan culture, that they even have a cabaret show dedicated to it.

There is singing and dancing bread involved.

Now you're even more confused than ever aren't you? Let me explain just a bit. A coca is a sort of Catalan pizza in that it involves flat baked dough with toppings. There are some differences though. Coques can be either sweet or savory and unlike pizzas, savory coques usually don't include either tomato sauce or cheese. Also, rather than being round or square, most coques are baked in an oblong oval shape.

Here is a savory coca that my friend Harriet made for me when I visited her in Madrid last weekend. It had anchovies, fennel and green olives.

This sort of coca does not sing or dance. It enjoys trips to the library, museum lectures and quiet evenings at home watching Masterpiece Theatre.

As for the Coca de Sant Joan, the dough for this coca is sweet, eggy and buttery. The top is usually covered in some sort of sugary or marzipan glaze, pine nuts and luridly-hued candied fruits. Often there is a bit of anisette flavoring included as well. It's the party girl of all coques, the sort of coca that dreams of one day appearing on a reality TV show about wild spring breaks.

For some reason I really wanted to make a Coca de Sant Joan this year. Maybe because I'll be on a plane headed to the US during this year's festivities, or maybe because the bakery coques seem specifically designed for me NOT to like them. In general I don't do candied fruit and I NEVER do anisette. Ick.

So for Father's Day I decided to make my own version of the traditional Coca de Sant Joan. This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

But since this coca is clearly too sedate, I jazzed it up with fresh Spanish picota cherries and almond custard piping. 

Perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snacking, bonfires or midnight ocean swims. In the mornings you could have it with a nice cup of coffee. Later, nibble it with a glass of bubbly Cava!

Coca de Sant Joan recipe (for one medium-sized coca) for people who don't like candied fruit or anisette (although if you MUST, you are welcome to add these things before baking)

-1/2 cup (100g) sugar plus extra for sprinkling on top.

 -2 ½ -3 cups (300-360g) flour

-1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt

 -1 package of dry yeast dissolved in a scant ¼ cup of lukewarm water

 -1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk

 -3 eggs (one of them for brushing on top of bread)

 -1/2 stick of butter (2oz or 60g)  melted butter

 -1/2 cup pine nuts (untoasted)

 -almond custard (see below)

 -a handful of cherries, sliced in half.

 Instructions:

 1. Mix 2 ½ cups (300g) of the flour with the sugar and salt.

 2. Stir in dissolved yeast, milk and 2 beaten eggs.

 3. When all the ingredients are mixed together, add flour a bit at a time until dough begins to take shape.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)

  5. Leave the dough to rise in a bowl covered with a clean dishcloth. Let it rise for at least one hour or until doubled in size.

   6. When dough is risen, place it on a lightly oiled cookie sheet (or you can put it on parchment paper) and press it out into an elongated oval, measuring a couple of centimeters thick. Let it sit for 30 minutes or so.

   7. Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C).

   8. Use a knife to score the dough, making keep criss-crosses over the top of the coca.

   9. Brush the coca with beaten egg and then sprinkle pine nuts and sugar over the top (I only sprinkled a few tablespoons but you can do more if you feel like it).

  10. Bake for 15-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

  11. Once cool, put custard (see below) into a pastry bag (or a plastic sandwich bag with just a tiny corner cut off. Squeeze the custard over the criss-crossed lines. Then place the half cherries over the intersection of each criss-cross.

 Almond Custard recipe

 Ingredients:

 -1/3 cup (65g) sugar

 -2 tablespoons (30g) corn starch (harina del maiz)

 -one pinch of salt

 -1 ¼ cups (300ml) whole milk

 -3 beaten egg yolks

 -1 tablespoon (15g butter)

 -1/4 teaspoon (2ml) almond extract

 Instructions:

 1. Put sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium sauce pan and stir until well blended.

 2. Gradually whisk in the milk and then vigorously whisk in the egg yolks.

 3. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Then remove from heat and whisk until smooth.

 4. Return to heat, bring to a simmer again and cook for one minute more.

 5. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and almond extract. Put the custard in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge until completely cooled.

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