You can find a lot of bakeries (also known as panaderias) in Spain. When you walk into a street, you’ll see one in the corner. The bakers in Spain offer a lot of varieties of bread and pastries, and Spaniards love their bread.
The pastries and bread reflect their regional origins, where the ingredients can be found. The influence of people from different countries such as the Moors and Greeks. Later on, they travelled to more countries and developed their recipes.
Nowadays, even if you’re not in Spain, there are a lot of Spanish restaurants you can visit to try their authentic treats. However, it’s better if you visit Spain to know what are the stories behind their delicacies.
If you’re curious about the different pastries Spain offers, then check the list below!
1. Coca
Coca can be found in is some parts of Spain like Montserrat and Catalonia. It’s a flatbread made to be sweet or savoury, depending on its toppings. It’s like a combination of baked doughnuts and pizza.
The savoury version of it contains ham and vegetables, while the sweet has pine nuts or sugar glaze. Nowadays, coca is can be made in different shapes and sizes.
The traditional ingredients are eggs and sugar, but later on, they’re replaced with salt and yeast.
2. Ensaimada
Ensaimada is a spiral-shaped pastry with different fillings like chocolate and spaghetti squash. Its main ingredients are lard and eggs. It originated in Majorca but can be found in different parts of Spain. Just visit a Spanish restaurant or bakeries to try this delicacy.
The recipe of ensaimada has never changed, unlike any other pastries. The fillings are just altered, but the main bread stays the same.
3. Bizcocho
Fond of sponge cake? Then you should try bizcocho. It’s believed to be the easiest Spanish pastry to make that’s why it’s the first cake they usually taught to kids. The classic slice of bizcocho is topped with icing powdered sugar and paired with a glass of milk.
Although the main ingredients are eggs, flour, and sugar, they are now added with citrus fruit juices or liquor. Moreover, the traditional powdered sugar sprinkle can now be replaced with the usual icing cakes.
4. Rosquillas
Rosquillas is Spain’s version of doughnuts. They also have holes in the middle, are deep-fried, and are covered with cinnamon sugar. The ingredients are almost the same as the usual doughnuts, except for its other variety that contains wine.
When you visit San Isidro and you noticed that there are celebrations there, you can easily find rosquillas sold in the streets.
5. Sobaos Pasiegos
Sabao is a yellow sponge cake from Cantabria. Spaniards say that sabao is created so that leftovers won’t go to waste. It was originally made from butter, sugar, and bread dough, but later on, it’s improved by adding sugar, flavourings, and eggs.
6. Piononos
Ever had a slice of rolled cake? Well, if you do, you can easily imagine how pianonos look like. They are made of rolled spongecakes drenched in syrup and filled with cream.
Pianonos originated from Granada, which was invented by Chef Ceferino Isla as a tribute to the late Pope Pius IX.
7. Magdalenas
Magdalenas look similar with mufins. Traditionally, they were made for celebration, but nowadays they can be found at Spanish restaurants and bakeries. You can pair magdalenas with a cup of coffee or a glass of warm milk.
It was believed that the name Magdalena originated from a girl who used to hand out these cakes to religious visitors that goes to Galicia.
8. Casadielles
Are you a walnut lover? Then don’t forget to try casadielles! It’s a pastry roll filled with walnuts, which originated from Asturias.
The traditional way of cooking it is frying, but nowadays, they also have it baked. They sprinkle some powdered sugar on top when it’s cooked and cooled.
9. Churros
The original churros didn’t have the shape we know today. The Spanish shepherds just made random shapes when they invented churros because it’s convenient for them to cook in a pan. They didn’t even have cinnamon sugar and chocolate dip back then.
But nowadays, churros is one of the well-known pastries in the world. People don’t mind ordering it every now and then, although it contains a lot of sugar, p
10. Costrada
Costrada is another Spanish treat that consists of two levels of puff pastry combined with whipped cream and meringue. It also has toppings such as roasted almonds and powdered sugar.
It’s chilled then served with a cup of coffee after baking. Sometimes, they add fruits on top of it to make it look even more presentable.
Do you have your go-to pastry when you visit Spanish restaurants? If you have, don’t hesitate to share it with us by leaving a comment below!