Spanish deserts for the San Juan Festival

Monday, June 29, 2015

Spanish deserts for the San Juan Festival

San Juan Pastries.
On the left: coca de llardons.
On the right: coca de crema.

On the 23rd Spain celebrates the San Juan night and during that night and the following day it is very traditional to eat those pastries. In Catalonia we have different type of 'coques', but today we want to share with you one of the most common in every house: 'coca de llardons'.

You only need 20 minutes to make this pastry and it is the easiest one to make.

Ingredients:

500 gr. puff pastry crust

250 gr. pork rinds

1 egg

Pine nuts

Sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to about 425º F (220ºC).
Start with a thick layer of puff pastry pie crust like they sell in the supermarkets. Remove it from the fridge to bring it up to closer to room temperature.
chop up the pork rinds in the blender. How finely you chop the pork rinds is a question of personal taste.
Next pour out a healthy portion of the chopped pork rinds over the pie crust. Don't worry about whether or not it's evenly distributed, as later we are going to flatten it all with the rolling pin.
Now add a second layer of puff pastry crust and more pork rinds on top.
Fold the pastry crust and pork rinds in half. repeat as many times as necessary until you've got a good mix of puff pastry crust and pork rinds. Then using the rolling pin and a little bit of flour, roll the crust until it's about 2cm (about 1") thick.
Beat the egg and the paste the coca with the beaten egg. Don't be shy with the egg!
Add a generous portion of pine nuts on top.
And to add the finishing touch, pour a healthy measure of sugar on top of the coca (remember, up to this point the coca has no sweet flavors, and it is, after all, a dessert). So it's better to err on the side of too much rather than too little when it comes to adding the sugar, at least for the first few times.
Put the coca on the bottom rack of the oven at 425º for 3 minutes, then immediately drop the temperature to 350 and let it cook for 12 to 15 minutes more.