21 May 2010

Catalan Baker's flatbread (Coca de forner)



Finally high temperatures are here again. I was missing it. Today I felt like starting this traditional Catalan flatbread, coca in Catalan. There are two types, crispy one or soft one. This is the crispy one.
It is similar to make bread, that is why it is called Baker´s flatbread.

I took the recipe from Xavier Barriga (have a look at the video) and I modify it a little bit. There are other recipes on the web. I don´t have a kneader but I did it manually. I takes longer but it is a lot of fun.

You will need for the dough:

500 gr flour
10 gr salt
280 ml water
25 ml oil
25 gr fresh yeast

For the surface you will need::
sugar
pine nuts
oil
anisette (or other sweet liqueur)

You can do it in just one day if you make it this way:

If you use fresh yeast, mix it with some water and let it stand for 10 minutes (the same I did for the ciabatta).
Knead the bread with the flour, salt, flour, oil, and some water. Add the yeast with the water. Knead it slowly ( if you use a kneader it will take 12 minutes or so, if you do it manually it will take around 30 minutes). Add more water or flour at anytime if the dough needs it. It should look like this:



Put it in a bowl with some flour in the bottom with a damp dishtowel or teatowel and cover the dough.
You can let this at room temperature for about one hour and a half. (or in the fridge but it will take 24 hours. We did that with the ciabatta because we want to mix all the flavors of the filling)  You will see that it doubles the volume. Room temperature today was around 23 ºC (73 F), so if it is colder, you will need probably 2 hours.
Then cut it in two pieces and do this shape (video will be useful here):




Let it at room temperature for about the same time as before 1 1/2- 2 hours, till you see it is much bigger



Then you smooth it down and stretch it. Use your fingers. Then paint the surface with olive oil to soften it.
And add the pine nuts.




Then let this at room temperature for 45 minutes more. If you want it thin and crispy it is not necessary.

After this time add the sugar around all the surface. Add quite a lot (be generous) because the dough has no sugar at all.

Preheat the oven.
Then put it in the oven for about 35 minutes (top and bottom) at 175ºC (350 F).

Just after you get the tray out of the oven, just add the anisette. When it is a little bit less warmer add a little bit more to all the surface.





Enjoy! Bon Profit!


1 comment:

  1. Hola guapa tu

    un blog fantastic plé de receptes de 10 punts, t´enllaço al meu, així molta gen et podrà gaudir-ne

    mil petonets Susanna

    ReplyDelete

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