coke bread

If there is something that cannot be missing from our tables, it is bread. But if we can also do it at home, then we can guarantee that it will be enjoyed twice as much. Not only because of the wonderfulness of carrying out the process, but also because of the difference in terms of flavor, texture, and aroma. When making bread at home we can find a wide range of possibilities, without adding all those that we ourselves want to create. This time we are going to see how to make the famous Pan de Coca at home.

This type of bread is very similar to crystal bread. It is a slightly flattened bread, with a very thin and crunchy crust, accompanied by a very light and airy crumb . Undoubtedly the perfect option to use it as an accompaniment or to enjoy it as the base of a coke. For example, using the same ingredients that we use to make Coca de Recapte .

Origin of coca

Coca bread is a variety of bread, from Catalan gastronomy, which is characterized by being a bread with a thin and crispy crust accompanied by a light crumb. As I told you above.

Apparently, coca is born from the use of bread masses that have not been baked . Instead of discarding them, what was done was to save them and cook them flat. The most common thing was to sugar them to serve them as a dessert. This custom makes the coca de pan the base of all cocas, either with ingredients on the surface or cooked to accompany them later.

Preparing the Coca Bread

This type of bread is a variety that can be classified as high hydration bread . This means that we will work with a sticky dough that is difficult to handle. But only at the beginning, because once you get used to working with this type of masses, it will be very easy for you. In fact they are addictive.

To prepare it, we can make the process a little easier by using the KitchenAid sieve and scale accessory . We already know that our time is time and everything that makes life easier for us, we will receive it with open arms! It helps us to weigh it at the same time that we add it to our KitchenAid .

To make our coca bread we will follow a few simple steps.

• Mix the flour with the water
• We will carry out autolysis so that the flour proteins are hydrated and reduce the kneading time
• We will knead until we achieve a perfect development of the gluten
• We will carry out block fermentation together with folding to strengthen the dough and create an internal structure
• we will retard in cold
• We will divide and form the loaves
• we will let rest
• we will bake

Perhaps when you read them all you may find it too many steps, but quite the opposite. It is a very easy process to combine with other preparations and it is not at all heavy to carry out. The result is a wonderful bread, perfect to accompany any dish.

KitchenAid Artisan 5KSM125 food processor and KitchenAid strainer and scale accessory

Ingredients (for 2 loaves)

• 500 g of flour, W=300
• 400 g of very cold water
• 2.2 g dry baker's yeast
• 25g olive oil
• 10g of salt

Preparation

Prepare the dough for coca bread

1. We reserve 10 g of water for later.
2. In a bowl add the flour together with the water and mix until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. We can do it in the KitchenAid with the help of the KitchenAid sieve and scale accessory . We knead with the help of the hook or do the process by hand, if you prefer.
3. We will mix until there are no traces of flour, it can take us about 2 minutes.
4. We covered with a film and performed autolysis for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
5. After this time we incorporated the yeast, previously dissolved in the water that we had reserved and the salt. We mix again.
6. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and begin to knead by performing the French knead.
7. We will alternate 3-4 minutes of kneading and 5 minutes of rest until we observe that our dough acquires body, muscle and is smooth. We should observe a smooth surface.
8. Once we have the dough at this point, we add the oil. The ideal is to do it little by little and working the dough at the same time to help it integrate well.
9. It is very important that the dough has developed the gluten well before carrying out the first fermentation.

We make the first fermentation

1. Grease a tupperware container with olive oil and introduce the dough inside.
2. Cover and let rest for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 24.4ºC (in my case) with a fold every 30 minutes . In total we will make 3 folds and, after making the last one, we store in the cold until the next day. In my case it was 14 hours at 4ºC .

We form the coca breads

1. Remove the dough from the cold and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature. You will observe a mass that has quadrupled its volume, in addition to having a surface full of bubbles.
2. Prepare a board/shovel, line it with baking paper and sprinkle it with flour (if it's rye it's better, it supports moisture better). We booked.
3. Dust a work surface very generously with flour and turn out the dough. If necessary, we will help the dough to slide and prevent it from tearing. Correct handling of the mass is very, very important so as not to damage the structure and, consequently, the internal alveoli. Roll out the dough gently to form a rectangle.
4. With the help of a metal scraper, we divide the dough into two equal pieces. Or approximately the same.
5. If you want it to have a more defined shape, you can cut the ends to give it a rectangular finish.
6. With the help of our hands we will pass the dough from the table to the table. We introduce our hands underneath, close as if it were an accordion and arrange it on the board while we stretch the dough.
7. Dust the surface with flour, cover with a cotton cloth or film and let it rest for 45 minutes at room temperature .

We bake the coca bread

1. Preheat the oven 30 minutes before baking at 250º C with a steel or stone plate and a container/tray with volcanic stones that we will place inside as soon as we turn on the oven, in this way they will also take temperature.
2. If you don't have a steel plate, Buyer's perforated trays work very well. Of course, remember to preheat the oven with it inside.
3. Five minutes before putting the bread in the oven, we heat water (just over half a cup), we can do it in the microwave.
4. We put our coca breads in the oven in the lowest part . We slide the bread with the help of the shovel / table on the tray or steel plate.
5. Pour the water over the stones, close and bake for 5 minutes with steam.
6. After this time we take out the tray with volcanic stones, close, reduce to 240ºC and bake for 10 minutes .
7. Lower the heat to 230ºC and bake for 5 more minutes with air.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
9. We enjoyed with a good tomato, olive oil and salt flakes.

GRADES

• On this occasion we will use a strong flour instead of baker's , as we do with ciabattas, since in addition to working with high hydration, we will subject the dough to a long fermentation process.
• Not all flours have the same absorption capacity . In case you use a lower strength flour, reduce the amount of water when you mix the ingredients to do the autolysis. You can always add more later when you are ready to knead. Remember one thing "the masses are always rectified with water, never with flour".
• Do not omit the autolysis time , it helps us to hydrate the flour and reduces the kneading time. Among other very beneficial factors for the mass.
• If you use fresh yeast instead of dry, you must add 3 times this amount . That is, for every gram of dry yeast, 3 g of fresh are used. In this case it would be 6.6 g of fresh yeast.
• The kneading will be somewhat laborious due to the high hydration . Do not add all the water at once or this step will be hell. It is easier to develop gluten in doughs with more moderate hydration and then continue to increase hydration.
• We will retard the dough in the cold to prolong this step and favor the development of flavors and aromas.
• To prevent the crust from softening after cooking, bake the final minutes with air. Otherwise, the internal humidity will migrate to the surface and, after a few hours, we will have a tough bread.
• The ideal is to consume the bread the same day we bake it since it does not have a long shelf life.

Recipe prepared with: KitchenAid Artisan 5KSM125 food processor and KitchenAid strainer and scale accessory

Without a doubt, I encourage you to make this Coca Bread at home so that you can enjoy both the process and the result. When carrying it out, the biggest "complication" that you can find is the kneading process. But, following the steps that I am telling you and with patience, it will not be difficult for you.

Maybe you wonder if this bread can be kneaded in the mixer. By proxy, yes you can, now the result will be infinitely better if we knead by hand. Because? Because this type of highly hydrated dough does not knead well in a home mixer and, therefore, the gluten does not develop correctly. This leaves us with a flatter bread and/or with a honeycomb that is not what we are looking for.

So get those muscles ready to make some of the most wonderful bread you can imagine!