Guide to Barcelona

Spanish desserts and sweets

Tuesday, 20 July 2010 09:35

Restaurants in Barcelona

The Spanish cuisine might not be very famous for desserts in particular but this does not mean that the Iberian peninsula has not lots of wonderful treats to offer that make your sweet teeth rebel when trying to ignore it. First of all the streets of Spanish cities are full of bakeries that sell freshly, homemade and delicious pastry every day. The assortment ranges from cakes, over cookies, to croissants and much more. It can be incredibly difficult to stay strong and just pass these stores with their colourful and aromatic displays without having a taste and a stop in one of them will definitely please your cravings for something sinful and sugary. There are of course also lots of other great desserts that belong to the Spanish cuisine. The most popular are probably Crème Catalan, Flan, brownie, magdalenas and Churros.

Crème Catalan is the Spanish version of the world famous Crème Brulée and is a rich and creamy custard that is topped with sugar that is then caramelized. In Catalunya traditionally this is done through the use of a hot iron. There is a difference between Crème Catalan and Crème Brulée. The Catalan version is made with milk and Brulée is made with cream. Therefore the Spanish version is more light.

Flan is probably the most popular dessert all over Spain and can be found everywhere in the country. It is custard –usually Vanilla- that is served with a caramel sauce and it is a wonderfully light and sweet dessert, that can even finish a heavy meal with an indulgent yet light sensation.

Brownie is a dessert that you can order is almost every restaurant. I think I don´t need to explain what it is. For the people who don´t know it, it is a chocolate cake. Sometimes it is served with ice cream. The inside can be just cake or it is filled with liquid chocolate. When you love chocolate this will be your favorite dessert.

Magdalenas are very Spanish. Most people eat it as breakfast. This is a vanilla cake, with a lot of sugar. They are very sweet. That´s also the reason why they are so popular. You can also buy them in the supermarket in all sizes and quantities.

Churros, however, are not a traditional Spanish dessert but a breakfast. Yet they are a very sweet and rich treat that can also be enjoyed as a dessert. These deep fried little dough pieces are dusted with sugar and then served with hot chocolate sauce. However, they can also be found filled with cream and there are many different types and shapes out there. After all, they are an integral part of the Spanish cuisine and are not to be missed when wanting to experience the true Iberian kitchen.

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