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Recipe · Indirect · Easy

Valencian coca de llanda on the kamado, the fluffy classic

The Valencian afternoon sponge, baked in a tray on the kamado at 180°C indirect: tall, moist, with its cracked sugar-and-cinnamon crust. Cinnamon, lemon and a hint of anise.

Bizcocho casero esponjoso tipo coca de llanda valenciana
Prep
15 min
Cook
40 min
Servings
12 servings
Temperature
180 °C

Ingredients

  • large eggs, at room temperature4 ud
  • white sugar250 g
  • whole milk250 ml
  • mild extra-virgin olive oil (local verdial or arbequina)150 ml
  • plain flour, sifted300 g
  • baking powder (most of a Royal-style sachet)12 g
  • Costa Blanca lemon (zest)1 ud
  • ground anise seed or a splash of anise liqueur1 cdita
  • salt1 pizca
  • sugar to dust on top3 cda
  • ground cinnamon to dust on top1 cdita

Method

  1. 01

    Set the deflector and stabilise 180°C

    Light the kamado, set the deflector (plate-setter) and stabilise the chamber at 180°C indirect. It takes 20-25 minutes. Do not load the tray until the thermometer holds at 180°C for 10 minutes: an oven still climbing sets the crust before the crumb and leaves the coca low.

  2. 02

    Whip the eggs with the sugar

    Whip the eggs with the sugar and the pinch of salt at high speed for 5-6 minutes, until pale, tripled in volume and the mixture ribbons off the whisk. This whipped-in air is the engine of the fluffiness: without it, no leavening will lift the coca. Do not rush this step.

  3. 03

    Add the liquids and aromatics

    Still beating on low speed, add the milk, the olive oil in a thin stream, the lemon zest and the anise. The oil is what keeps the coca moist for days; add it gradually so it emulsifies and the mix does not split. You will end up with a loose, aromatic batter.

  4. 04

    Fold in flour and baking powder

    Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold them in two or three additions with a folding motion, by hand or at the lowest speed. Stop as soon as no lumps show: over-mixing develops gluten and the coca turns chewy instead of tender. The baking powder always goes sifted with the flour so it distributes evenly.

  5. 05

    Pour into the llanda and dust sugar and cinnamon

    Grease the metal tray (the llanda) and pour in the batter: it should sit about a finger deep, roughly 1.5-2 cm, so it rises tall without overflowing. Mix the 3 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon and dust it evenly over the whole surface. That layer melts and caramelises into a thin, cracked crust, the signature of coca de llanda.

  6. 06

    Bake 40 min without lifting the lid

    Set the tray on the grate, above the deflector, and close the kamado. Bake 40 minutes at 180°C without opening the lid for the first 30: every opening deflates the sponge. It is ready when it has risen tall, the sugar crust is golden and cracked and a skewer in the centre comes out clean or barely moist.

  7. 07

    Rest 15 min and cut into squares

    Pull the tray with a glove and let the coca rest 15 minutes: the crumb finishes setting and it slices more cleanly. Cut it into squares straight in the llanda with a long-bladed knife. Eat it warm or at room temperature, on its own or dunked in milk, and it stays moist for several days well covered.

About this recipe

Coca de llanda is the everyday sponge of the Valencia region, the one you have with milk for an afternoon snack, and the kamado nails it because what it wants is exactly what a ceramic with a deflector does best: an even indirect oven at 180°C that lifts the batter slowly and leaves it tall and fluffy. You whisk eggs with sugar until pale, fold in milk, oil, self-raising flour, lemon zest and a hint of anise, pour it into the tray (the *llanda*), dust the top with sugar and cinnamon and bake 40 minutes without lifting the lid. No fine pastry work: well-whipped eggs, a steady oven and patience.

What coca de llanda is and where it comes from

Coca de llanda is a homestyle Valencian sponge baked in a rectangular metal tray —the *llanda*, which gives it its name— and cut into squares to snack on. It is not one of the savoury cocas, nor a sweet enriched one like the coca de San Juan: it is a moist, humble sponge, the kind made in every home across l'Horta and la Ribera and once carried to the neighbourhood oven to bake. It is defined by the oil in the batter (traditionally olive or sunflower oil, never butter), which keeps it moist for days, and by its aromatic trio of cinnamon, lemon zest and a touch of anise. Here in Torrevieja I make it with a mild local extra-virgin olive oil and Costa Blanca lemon: the green oil gives a rounded backdrop no butter sponge can match.

Why the kamado leaves it tall and fluffy

A sponge's number-one enemy is a swinging oven: if the temperature rises and falls, the leavening pushes out of sync, the crust sets before the inside and the coca comes out low and dense. Once pinned at 180°C with the deflector in, the kamado behaves like an oven of enormous thermal inertia that simply does not move, and that is gold for baking. The heat wraps the tray in gentle convection rather than attacking it from below, so the batter rises evenly and stays tall. The key is never to lift the lid in the first 30 minutes: each opening is a blast of cold air that deflates the sponge at once —just as it would in a home oven, but worse, because the ceramic is slow to recover.

Sugar and cinnamon on top: the crust that defines it

Before baking you dust sugar and cinnamon over the whole surface, and it is not decoration: that sugar melts and caramelises in the kamado's heat into a thin, crisp, cracked crust that contrasts with the moist crumb beneath. It is the signature of coca de llanda, the first thing you recognise on sight. The cinnamon perfumes and the sugar seals the top so it does not dry out. This coca does not want smoke —it is baking, not barbecue— but if you fancy an almost imperceptible backdrop, a single small piece of apple wood plays nicely with the lemon. I almost always do it clean.

In 30 seconds

Deflector in, kamado a stable 180°C indirect oven. Whisk 4 eggs with sugar until pale and tripled in volume. Add milk, mild olive oil, sifted self-raising flour, lemon zest and a touch of anise. Pour into the greased *llanda* (metal tray). Dust sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake 40 minutes without lifting the lid until it rises tall and a skewer comes out clean. Rest 15 min. Cut into squares. Moist for several days. Serves 12.

Editor's tips

  • An independent chamber thermometer (Inkbird) is more reliable than the dome gauge, which reads the air under the lid, not at tray height. Clip the probe by the grate and tune the vents to that number: an exact 180°C is the difference between a tall coca and a low, dense one.
  • The secret to height is whipping the eggs properly, not adding more leavening. Four eggs beaten 5-6 minutes until tripled in volume lift higher and better than excess baking powder, which leaves a metallic aftertaste and makes the coca shoot up then sink in the centre as it cools.
  • Use a mild extra-virgin olive oil, not an intense early-harvest one: a local verdial or arbequina gives a rounded backdrop without bitterness. A powerful picual overpowers the lemon and anise. If the olive flavour in baking bothers you, half mild EVOO and half sunflower is an honest, traditional middle ground.

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FAQ

  • What is coca de llanda and where does it originate?

    Coca de llanda is a homestyle sponge typical of the Valencia region, especially the comarcas of l'Horta, la Ribera and la Costera. It takes its name from the llanda, the rectangular metal tray it is baked in and cut into squares. It is the everyday afternoon sponge, the one dunked in milk or hot chocolate, made with oil instead of butter and flavoured with cinnamon, lemon and anise. In the old days each family mixed the batter at home and carried it to the neighbourhood oven to bake, a custom shared by many village Mediterranean sweets.

  • What role do cinnamon, lemon and anise play in the Valencian coca?

    They are the aromatic trio that defines coca de llanda and sets it apart from any plain sponge. Lemon zest brings citrus freshness and cuts the sweetness, the anise —ground seed or a splash of liqueur— gives that gentle liquorice backdrop so typical of the Mediterranean, and the cinnamon perfumes both the batter and, above all, the sugar crust on top. There is no need to overdo it: one lemon's zest, a teaspoon of anise and the dusted cinnamon are enough. Together they are what makes this coca smell of a Valencian grandmother's kitchen, an aromatic profile impossible to mistake.

  • Why dust sugar and cinnamon on top before baking?

    It is not just decoration: it serves a technical and flavour purpose. The dusted sugar melts in the kamado's heat and caramelises into a thin, crisp, cracked crust that contrasts with the moist crumb beneath; that texture is what tells a coca de llanda apart from an ordinary sponge. The sugar layer also seals the surface and helps the top not dry out over the 40-minute bake. The cinnamon mixed into the sugar perfumes that crust and is the first thing you smell when you cut it. Do it right before baking, over the batter already in the tray, not earlier.

  • How do you get coca de llanda to come out tall and fluffy?

    Three keys, in order of importance. First: whip the eggs with the sugar for 5-6 minutes until tripled in volume and ribboning —that whipped-in air is the real engine of the rise, far more than the leavening. Second: a steady oven at 180°C; the kamado with the deflector pinned at that temperature lifts the batter slowly and evenly, whereas a swinging oven leaves it low. Third: do not open the lid for the first 30 minutes, because the blast of cold air deflates the sponge at once. And do not overdo the baking powder: too much makes it rise fast and sink as it cools.

  • How long does coca de llanda keep and how do you keep it moist?

    It is one of its great merits: thanks to the oil in the batter, it stays moist for 3-4 days, far longer than a butter sponge, which dries out in one. Keep it at room temperature well wrapped in cling film or in an airtight container, never in the fridge —the cold dries the crumb and hardens the coca, the opposite of what you want. If you cut it into squares, cover them as soon as they cool so they do not lose moisture at the edges. For a piece that is a few days old, 15 seconds in the microwave or a short stint in a warm kamado brings back the just-baked feel. It also freezes well as individually wrapped squares.

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