Coca de Llanda — also called coca de molla or coca boba — is a simple Valencian sponge cake baked in a flat rectangular tray (llanda), flavored with lemon zest and a dusting of sugar. It is the everyday sweet of the Valencian bakery, eaten for breakfast or as a merienda snack, dunked in coffee or hot chocolate.
Coca de Llanda is the everyday cake of the Valencian Community — Alicante, Valencia, Castellón. The name comes from the llanda, the enameled rectangular baking tray it is baked in. Every Valencian bakery has a version of this cake, sold by the slice from the same tray. It is a humble cake — eggs, flour, sugar, oil, lemon — but its lightness and the citrus brightness make it beloved.
A square of pale-gold sponge, dusted with sugar. The crumb is open, light, slightly oily from the olive oil. The lemon zest comes through immediately, and a faint warmth from the anise (in some versions). It is the kind of cake you eat three squares of without noticing.
The eggs are beaten with sugar to the ribbon stage, which incorporates air for the rise, then the flour is folded in gently to keep the bubbles. Olive oil (not butter) keeps the crumb moist for days. A dusting of sugar on top before baking forms a slight crust.
Variations
Some add a splash of anise liqueur; some add a touch of cinnamon; some top with pine nuts; the sugar topping varies (sugar, cinnamon sugar).
On the Palate
Where Coca de Llanda sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
7 steps · 20 min active + 40 min waiting
- 13 min
Preheat oven to 180°C; line a rectangular llanda (or baking tray) with parchment.
- 28 min
Whisk 4 eggs and 200 g sugar to the ribbon stage, pale and tripled in volume.
Watch outWhip the eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage — pale, tripled, and falling in a slow ribbon that holds a moment on the surface. This trapped air is the only lift.
- 32 min
Whisk in 200 ml milk, 150 ml mild olive oil, and the zest of 1 lemon.
- 43 min
Fold in 300 g sifted flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt, gently.
Watch outFold the flour in gently with a few strokes — beat it and you knock out the air, and the cake bakes flat.
- 51 min
Pour into the tray; smooth the top; sprinkle generously with sugar.
- 630 min
Bake 30 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
- 715 min
Cool in the tray; cut into squares; dust with more sugar if needed.
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