Recipe: Coca Tovada d'Albercocs

Always on the lookout for new ways to use seasonal fruits, I came across the coca tovada d'albercocs (apricot cake) from Mallorca and just had to make it. Some of the more modern recipes use a chemically-risen dough which I imagine results in a very cake-like texture. The appeal to using chemical leaveners—like baking soda and baking powder—is that they require significantly less time and less work. And, who doesn't love cake? But my curiosity was piqued by the more traditional yeast-risen version for a couple of reasons. First, the dough has an unusual ingredient: cooked potato. Second, it is apparently traditional to add sobrasada to the dough underneath each apricot half. Intriguing, no?

Blending Traditional and Modern Methods

When it comes to modifying traditional recipes for today's kitchen, I think there's always kind of a balancing act between preserving the traditional ways and choosing more modern methods and ingredients. For me, the appeal to looking back to traditional methods is mostly about feeling connected to people of the past and gaining just the tiniest bit of understanding of the food they ate and the lives they lived.

Tracking down the origins of old recipes can be tricky business. Just how far back in time do you have go before you can call a recipe authentic? Is your nana's recipe considered authentic even if it calls for non-traditional ingredients? Or does authentic mean tracking down the earliest written evidence of a recipe? Fascinating as these questions may be, it's the work of a food archaeologist—which I definitely am not. So, for those who seek the ultimate in authenticity, I may seem to play it fast and loose with my choice of ingredients. But, there was one ingredient present in almost every single recipe I found for this coca that I just couldn't bring myself to use: lard. I know that it is an important ingredient in Spanish sweets. But, I just can't.

Swapping Fat

Lard is produced by rendering pork fat. Though it has a bad reputation today, it was just as popular as butter through the early 20th century in the US and some European countries. In fact, because butter was scarce in the States during the Second World War, lard was commonly used as a substitute. My granny regularly put lard in her cakes, cookies and pastries—and never thought twice about it.

But, by the end of the 20th century, lard had fallen out of favor in American kitchens. Vegetable oils had since become less expensive and were hailed as a healthy alternative because of their lower saturated fat content. Today, many Americans have an aversion to cooking with lard—but the Spanish don't tend to suffer from this negative view. 

Lard may not be as evil as it has been made out to be, but I still can't bring myself to cook with it, mostly because I don't like the way it smells. So, though virtually every recipe I found called for it, I decided early on to swap it for olive oil.

Other liberties I took include the addition of vanilla, almond flavoring and cherries soaked in vermouth.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DOUGH

• 300 g cooked potato, mashed
• 525 g  bread flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 60 ml lukewarm whole milk
• 25 g fresh yeast
• 3 large eggs
• 300 g sugar
• 160 ml mild extra virgin olive oil*
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp almond flavoring

FOR THE TOPPING

• 100 g sugar
• 10 apricots, halved
• sobrasada (optional)
• 10 cherries, pitted
• vermouth (optional)

METHOD

1. Cook the potato, peel and mash with a fork and set aside (do not refrigerate).
2. Measure out the flour, whisk in the salt and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the lukewarm milk and set aside.
4. With a hand mixer or stand mixer beat the eggs and 200 grams of sugar in a large mixing bowl until lightened in color. Add the olive oil and mix well.
5. With the mixer running, add the mashed potato a spoonful at a time until blended and then mix in the milk and yeast mixture.
6. With the mixer still on, add the flour one spoonful at a time incorporating all the flour before adding more. You will probably need to mix in the last quarter of the flour by hand with a rubber spatula as the dough will become very thick and sticky.
7. Turn the dough out on a well-floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and shiny—about 10 minutes. The dough will start out very sticky, so add flour as needed to prevent sticking.
8. Shape dough into a ball and place in a large bowl lightly coated with olive oil. Cover with a clean, damp dish cloth and place in a warm area away from drafts. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size—one to two hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
9. Halve and pit the apricots. Every recipe I found added the extra step of peeling the apricots, but in my opinion this is wholly unnecessary. Pit the cherries and, if desired, soak them in vermouth while the dough is rising.
10. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and spread it into a 26 x 36 cm (10 x 14 in) baking pan that has been lightly oiled. Place a slice of sobrasada on the dough and then cover with the halved apricots, cut side up. ( If you're not so sure about adding sobrasada, feel free to leave it out.)
11. Cover again with a clean, damp dish cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size—about 45 minutes to one hour and a half.
12. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
13. When the dough has doubled in size again, put a cherry in the center of each apricot half. Sprinkle the remaining 100 g sugar evenly over the top and then bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
14. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting. Enjoy!

Other Modern Ingredients

The yeast of yesteryear was nothing akin to the cute little packages of yeast we purchase in the refrigerator section of the supermarket today. In the past, yeast starters had to be made by fermenting flour over a period of several days. During the lockdown the internet exploded with enthusiastic bread makers fermenting their own sourdough starters. I tried it once. It molded after a few days. I decided it wasn't for me and bought a big bag of dry yeast for my forays into bread making. If you don't have fresh yeast you can substitute it with 10 g of dry yeast.

Milk is another modern ingredient, and nearly every recipe I found did include it. Though not a traditional ingredient in Spanish breads, most chefs today use it in place of water because the added protein and fat in milk make for a more moist, tender crumb. It helps the flour absorb the moisture, making the dough softer and more pliable when mixing and it also acts a a browning agent.

*Does it Matter What Kind of Olive Oil?

Yes. For everyday cooking I like the strong, earthy and intense flavors of picual olive oil. But the picual variety would overpower the delicate flavors in this cake. For baking, I recommend a fruity and light extra virgin arbequina olive oil.