Christmas is a beautiful time, full of lights, gifts, parties and, above all, food! At least in Spain. That is why, for lovers of this festivity, Christmas sweets are a must. You may have some preferences or others. But you will surely have several types of Christmas sweets at some point during the Christmas season.
Today we want to talk to you about the most popular typical Christmas sweets in Spain; those that we all know and have tried at some point, and if not, dare to try them this year! During the month of January you can still find to enjoy most of them.
The best Christmas sweets in Spain
Mantecados and polvorones are one of the most consumed Christmas sweets in Spain. They are small cakes made with lard, wheat flour and sugar (although the ingredients will vary a lot depending on the final taste, with the addition of lemon, almonds, chocolate, etc.).Polvorones usually include almonds and a layer of sugar as decoration. The polvoron is usually wrapped in paper and it is very common to crush it before consumption so that it does not fall apart when opened.
On the other hand, the mantecado contains less flour, which means that it has a different consistency to polvorones and does not crumble so easily.
The best known polvorones and mantecados in Spain are those from Estepa, in the province of Seville. Although the production of these products is not exclusive to this area and they are produced in many other places such as Rute, Antequera, Medina Sidonia or Alcaudete.
Turrón is the most typical Christmas sweet in Spain. It is made with pure honey, sugar, almonds and egg whites, although these ingredients can be increased if we choose a less common turrón. There are many varieties of nougat, from those with pistachios to those with coconut, although the best known and most popular are still the hard and soft nougat. The most popular turrón in Spain is the one from Alicante, also known as turrón de Jijona.
Mazapán is a dessert originating in Toledo that is made from raw almonds peeled with sugar and shaped into Christmas objects.
January is still Christmas
Roscón de reyes is the most consumed Christmas sweet in the first week of January. Roscón is one of the most requested and typical Christmas sweets in Spain. This is a sweet, round doughnut. It is decorated with slices of candied fruit and can be eaten alone or filled with cream or truffle. It is also very normal to aromatise it with orange blossom to give it its own flavour. The most curious thing about this sweet is that it includes a little surprise inside and from the beginning it has been established that whoever finds it must pay.
