Coquetes de Sant Blai (St Blaise's Little Cakes)

My sister has recovered a recipe of my grandmother's for making Coquetes de Sant Blai, and precisely today, St Blaise's Day (3 February), I want to share them with you on her behalf. And by the way, happy name day, Blai.

As well as my mother's mother's handwritten recipe, my sister has recovered the tool my grandmother and my aunt used to mark the little cakes with the cross of St Blaise (see photo); it's a boxwood stamp. In fact she has two, and I've already put my name down to one day have this wonderful heirloom. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm told they're delicious.

The coquetes were made for St Blaise's Day and taken to church to be blessed that day; once blessed, they were said to be ideal for curing sore throats. I haven't tried them yet, but I have every nuance of the flavours of my aunt's and grandmother's coquetes fully in my memory, even though it's maybe more than 20 years since I last had them. I'll try them on Friday or Saturday; I can't wait.

Serves: a large batch (about 2 kg of dough)  ·  Prep time: 20 min + 1 h resting  ·  Cook time: 15–20 min  ·  Difficulty: Easy

Another thing traditionally made around this time of year is menjar blanc (a Catalan almond pudding); you also have my grandmother's recipe for it right here.

Here's the recipe. I'll warn you now, they're not exactly diet food (unless you have a cold, of course):

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 200 g lard
• 200 g sugar
• the grated zest of two lemons
• 800 g flour

Method

Cream the sugar with the lard, add the eggs and the lemon zest, and when it's nice and smooth, gradually add the flour and make a dough. Let the dough rest for a good while, around an hour, and meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Make little balls of dough about 2 cm in diameter, place them on a baking tray and flatten them with the cross stamp (or with something else if you don't have one) to shape them. With or without the cross, bake them until golden.

Tips and frequently asked questions

What are Coquetes de Sant Blai?
Small traditional Catalan lemon biscuits made for St Blaise's Day (3 February), marked with a cross and taken to church to be blessed. They were said to be good for sore throats.

Can I replace the lard?
Yes, with the same weight of softened butter. The flavour changes slightly and the texture is a little less crumbly, but they are still delicious.

I don't have a stamp with a cross. What can I use?
Mark a cross with the back of a knife or the tines of a fork, or simply flatten them with the bottom of a glass.

How do I store them?
In an airtight tin they keep for a week or more.

🌐 Llegeix aquesta recepta en català