Coca de llanda (olive oil lemon cake), a Valencian merienda, after-school snack

Natacha Sanz Caballero Breads, Desserts and Sweets afternoon snack, breakfast, merienda, olive oil cake, Valencian cuisine

Coca de llanda is one of the most popular after-school snacks in the region of Valencia homes, what we call “la merienda”.

A walk in the neighborhood after la merienda

La merienda —merendar— is that mid afternoon “tentenpié”, a bite to eat between lunch and dinner, sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, a simple but tasty sweet cake or a piece of baguette bursting with slices of jamón, chorizo or salchichón, Spanish meats and cold cuts, or squares of chocolate with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. La merienda is an endearing Spanish idiosyncrasy.

Coca de llanda is a simple cake that requires only a few ingredients. The result is a spongy, lemony cake, with a characteristic sugar crust that makes it irresistible. It is a favorite among children and adults alike, usually eaten accompanied by a good coffee or a cup of hot chocolate. I remember the aroma of the just-out-of-the-oven baked cake wafting through the house, making its way out as my mom opened the door when we came home from school. We’d run to the kitchen, famished after a day of less-than-par cafeteria school lunch, and devour it. These days I may eat it with more moderation, prefering to have a piece with my morning coffee.

I always visit Mari Carmen at her churros truck

Mari Carmen and her husband have managed the churros truck for decades

Another generation, a different kind of merienda

My niece and nephew bake and enjoy their own

What does its name, coca de llanda, mean?

The name coca de llanda describes the cake and where it’s made, if only you are familiar with the Valencian language. Coca is the general name given to cakes in that region of Spain, usually rectangular in shape. Cocas can be sweet or savory, as in the coca de pimiento, atún y tomate, pepper, tuna and tomato coca, a delicious dish to share that, to the unknowing eye, may look like a pizza, but it’s nothing of the like. If anything, this is a Valencian one, rectangular in shape, with no cheese, and preferably eaten at room temperature —come to think of it, its recipe is not in this blog yet, and it should be.

As for the word llanda, it means tin in the Valencian language, and it’s the typical ovenproof tin pan where the coca is made, rectangular in shape, and of 1 1/2 to 2 inches in height.

Churros for la merienda, afternoon snack? Absolutely!

There’s time to admire the breathtaking sunset on a leisure walk after la merienda

Heading home

The ingredients

There are slight variations to the ingredients in coca de llanda. For instance, some people use milk instead of yogurt, and some others add a bit of cinnamon to the recipe, but for the most part, the resulting cakes are very similar.

One ingredient, though, is always common: olive oil. Like many Spanish desserts, coca de llanda uses olive oil instead of butter as the fat ingredient. Which brings me to an interesting puzzling phenomenon I started seeing in social media and cooking magazines during the past few months: the overwhelming number of recipes with “olive oil cake“ in their title. As a keen cook and baker, I was intrigued by it, only to find out that they referred to cakes incorporating olive oil instead of butter. The Spanish way!

Easter merienda includes mona de Pascua, Easter sweet bread

The chocolate is always eaten first!

In Spain, olive oils are classified according to their acidity. 1% acidity olive oil is the extra-virgin olive oil, obtained from the first press of the olives, and which is usually eaten as is, raw, for dipping or in dressings, but never cooked with. The 0.4% acidity olive oil can be used for cooking and also in dressings. And then there’s the lighter and less acidic 0.1% olive oil. This is the one I like to use in pastry. In the United States, olive oils are not classified that way, so I will use a light olive oil for baking. That’s the one I used in coca de llanda, but as with many recipes, you can experiment with the different oils and see which one you prefer.

(NOTE: for more on olive oil, check here)

I enjoyed many meriendas on this bench at my grandma’s house

For today’s recipe, I had to adjust some of the ingredients, as some of the Spanish ones required in the original recipe are hard to find (namely levadura Royal, which I replaced with baking powder and baking soda). But if you’re in Spain or can find levadura Royal, by all means, follow the original Valencian recipe and use it.

I accompany this post with different “merienda” moments in Spain from last summer —soon enough I’ll be able to relive them!

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COCA DE LLANDA

Lemon Olive oil cake

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Equipment

• Llanda or rectangular cake pan
• mixing bowls

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup light olive oil
• 2 cups + 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 medium lemon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• In a bowl or bowl of a stand up mixer, beat the eggs with 2 cups sugar until they form a smooth paste.
• Add the milk and the oil and continue beating.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add it in batches to the bowl while continuing to beat.
• Next, add the zest and juice of the lemon and mix everything together. If using the vanilla extract, add as well.
• Butter a baking sheet (use a llanda if you have one) and line it with parchment paper.
• Pour the mixture, tap the counter 2 or 3 times to evenly distribute it and to eliminate bubbles. Sprinkle the surface with 2 Tbs granulated sugar and bake for 35 to 40 minutes (start checking at the 30 minute mark: the cake should be slightly golden).
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool down.