Spain is known throughout the world for its cuisine – olive-oil drizzled plates of tapas, fragrant seafood paellas and delicate Basque pintxos, so many people come here ready to be wowed by the cakes and desserts too.
Unfortunately, they sometimes leave disappointed by the sweet offerings here in Spain. Foreign British residents often complain about the standard of pastries and cakes compared to back home, while other foreign residents such as Swedes, French and Portuguese tend to set up their own bakeries or prefer to shop at those owned by their fellow countrymen.
Firstly, it’s not that Spanish cakes and puddings are bad, it’s simply that they are not as delectable as those found in some other European countries. They are not as famous either when compared with Italy’s tiramisu and gelato, England’s Bakewell tarts and hearty fruit cakes, Portugal’s pasteis de nata or Sweden’s cinnamon buns.
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Firstly, while Spain does have a lot of cakes and pastries there’s not much variety to them. For example, the Roscón de Reyes over Christmas, the Mona de Pascua at Easter and Catalan cocas eaten for Sant Joan are all essentially the same – sweet bread, perhaps with some candied fruit on top. Other traditional sweet bread include ensaimadas from Mallorca.
Secondly, Spanish cuisine is celebrated for its simplicity – produce is the star of the show without much adulteration or mixing a lot of ingredients into one dish. Cakes are like that too – they don’t go in for elaborate cakes with lots of fillings and toppings like in the UK, they are simpler and often just filled with cream.
Cakes and pastries are usually quite plain in flavours too – you won’t often find Spanish coffee cakes, carrot cakes, lemon or ginger or the cardamom and cinnamon buns typical in northern Europe.
Usually, it’s just plain vanilla and maybe Nutella chocolate spread in some of the pastries. The exception of this is almond and aniseed, often used by nuns in their biscuits. But again, it’s not a very strong almond flavour like Italy’s amaretto cookies, it’s very subtle. Magdalenas, Spain’s version of a muffin, are again usually only found in one plain flavour – perhaps with a very subtle hint of lemon.
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It may seem odd because Spain has a lot of really good fruit, nuts and other produce that would taste great in a dessert, but Huelva’s strawberries, Extremadura’s figs, Valencia’s oranges and Asturian apples rarely feature in desserts, with the exception of ice cream, which Spaniards actually do really well.
People would rather eat these fruits on their own – unadulterated and without added extras like much of their other ingredients such as meat and seafood.
Even chocolate isn’t used a lot in desserts or cakes – apart from churros con chocolate or just the use of Nutella spread on top.
The next reason why Spanish repostería (confectionery and pastry-making) is not as elaborate as other European countries is that many of the most traditional pastries, biscuits and cakes were invented by nuns in Spain. This partly explains why they are so simple and often use up left over ingredients such as eggs. The nuns didn’t want to make overly complicated puddings that would take up a lot of time in their busy day. If you go to Andalusia, you can still buy many of these traditional biscuits and cakes from the nuns themselves in working convents.
Desserts in Spain may be slightly better than the cakes, but again there’s not a lot of variety or different flavours, most of them are custardy or creamy concoctions made with eggs and milk. These include arroz con leche - Spain’s version of rice pudding, which is arguably better than its UK counterpart and does also feature cinnamon, crema Catalana (like France’s crème brûlée) and flan (like crème caramel). Bienmesabe again, whether the Canarian or the Antequera versions are made with egg yolks and almonds. Flan is probably the most common option for a menú del día dessert all around the country and is rather uninspiring, when it comes to sweet treats.
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Also, dessert can be even more simplified, for example a piece of fruit or a yoghurt is often offered as a pudding when it comes to the menús del día in Spain. As mentioned, fruit isn’t used much in desserts, it’s seen as a perfectly good dessert in itself. Why mush up a strawberry to put in Eton mess (an English pudding made with strawberries, cream and meringue), when you can have it in its purest form?
In fact, if you go to any of Spain’s big multicultural cities, it’s the international bakeries and dessert places which are the most popular, rather than the local ones. In Barcelona for example there’s the Swedish Manso’s Café, the Jewish-inspired Lady Babka and Demasié which offers American-style cinnamon buns and cookies.
There are of course exceptions, Baluard being one of the best Catalan-owned bakeries, but even here, breads and pastries and have a decidedly French taste to them.
Having said all that, sweet treats do tend to improve the further north you go – the Basque Country and Galicia being some of the best. Could this be to do with the influence from nearby France and Portugal?
Galicia produces arguably one of Spain’s best cakes, loved by almost all international residents and Spaniards alike – the tarta de Santiago.
Originating in the city of Santiago de Compostela, it’s a dense almond cake – similar to a frangipane or Bakewell tart minus the pastry and the jam.
The Basque Country too excels in its desserts more so than the rest of Spain. It’s baked burnt cheesecakes have become world famous. Again though, they’re very simple – they don’t have any fruit toppings or added flavours – they don’t even have a biscuit base like the New York counterparts.
They are, however, delicious and should be sampled whenever you find yourself in that part of Spain. La Viña in San Sebastián is often said to do the best Basque cheesecake in Spain and it’s not just about the hype, their cheesecakes really are that good.
Torrijas are another Basque exception, which are delicious. This is Spain’s version of French toast and is a thick slice of brioche style bread soaked in milk and egg and then deep fried. They’re often flavoured with cinnamon and lemon peel and are slightly caramelised.
But whether or not Spanish sweets and treats stack up against a British sticky toffee pudding, an American pumpkin pie or a French tarte tatin is entirely down to personal opinion.
What do you think? Are Spanish cakes and desserts better than some people think, or do you agree with this article? Have your say below in the comments section.
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