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You are here: Home / Food / 7 Incredibly Delicious Spanish Desserts

7 Incredibly Delicious Spanish Desserts

November 19, 2015 Amy Bingham 32 Comments

Spanish desserts are a huge part of Spanish culture– each town and city has their specialties. From decadent cheesecake to creamy hot chocolate, there is a sweet for every time of day, and every month of the year!

From creamy custards to flaky pastries, Spanish desserts are downright delicious!

So don’t be fooled by all that healthy talk about Spain’s Mediterranean Diet. Spaniards definitely have a sweet tooth. From sugary custards to chocolate-filled pastries, Spanish dessert menus are a place of sweet, sweet joy.

Like so many foods in Spain, many of the country’s desserts are regional. The Moorish influence in southern Spain means many of the desserts there are almond-based. Located just south of the French border, the region of Catalonia serves desserts with a decidedly French flare.

But no matter where in Spain you are, your sweet tooth will not be disappointed. Here are seven Spanish desserts that make my tastebuds water every time!

Top Spanish Desserts for Sweet Lovers

1. Tarta de Santiago

A delicious Tarta de Santiago recipe for the famous Spanish almond cake.
Almonds at their finest

The Tarta de Santiago may just be the most deceiving dessert in all of Spain. It breaks all my dessert rules: no chocolate, served room temperature and often comes pre-made from a box.

But one bite of this thin, super moist almond cake and those rules evaporate from my mind. This simple cake hails from Galicia, specifically the town of Santiago de Compostela, where the pilgrimage of St. James ends. A powdered sugar cross of St. James usually adorns the top of the cake.

Get Lauren’s Tarta de Santiago recipe here!

2. Tarta de Queso

Spanish desserts are downright irresistible! Especially this quesada cheesecake from Cantabria.
Cantabria knows how do to cheesecake.

Spanish cheesecake is about as opposite of New York style cheesecake as possible. It is often light and fluffy with a strong cheese flavor. The crust (if there is one!) is usually drier and crunchier and more like a cookie. And I’ve only ever seen one cheesecake topping in Spain: berries.

Tarta de queso is a staple of the Spanish dessert menu. Consequently, it is also a staple of my weekend dinners!

Try the Cantabrian cheesecake called Quesada Pasiega with this recipe.

3. Torrijas

Torrijas recipes from Spain
Delicious torrijas three ways!

If it were up to me, torrijas would on every dessert menu every day of the year. These drunken, cinnamon-spiced slices of fried bread are like French toast taken to a whole new level.

Tragically, it is almost impossible to find torrijas outside of Easter season. Only in March and April are the window displays and dessert menus of pastry shops, cafés and restaurants loaded with torrijas, Spain’s traditional Easter dessert.

Torrijas come in two traditional flavors: milk and cinnamon, wine and simple syrup, or honey soaked. All are positively delicious. And yes– the photo has a very non-traditional (but equally yummy) chocolate torrija from Seville.

Luckily, these most marvelous of Spanish desserts aren’t difficult to make at home! Here’s Spanish Sabores’ torrijas recipe.

4. Crema Catalana

The strong French influence of Catalonia's northern neighbor is apparent in this creme brulee-like Spanish dessert called crema catalana.
Creamy and eggy crema catalana.

Crema Catalana is sometimes called the poor man’s creme brûlée. And in this match-up, I put my money with the poor man! Served in a humble, shallow clay dish, this custard dessert from Catalonia is hugely popular throughout the country.

Creamy egg yolk custard is topped with sugar that is then torched to a crisp. This distinctive flavor is so popular, in fact, that ice creams and liqueurs often come in “crema catalana” flavor.

Get the best homemade crema Catalana recipe right here!

5. Chocolate and Churros

Spain wouldn't be nearly as sweet without chocolate and churros.
Spain’s all-day-long dessert!

While you won’t ever find chocolate with churros on the dessert menu (and if you do– run away!), it would be blasphemous to talk about Spanish sweets without including them! Chocolate and churros is like the dessert that has broken free from after-meal status into eat-it-whenever-you-want status.

For breakfast? Churros. Mid-morning snack? Churros. Late night craving? Lots of churros. These tubes of fried dough are as versatile as they are delicious! And the steaming cup of melted chocolate that comes with them ain’t too bad either.

If you’re not in Spain, no pasa nada! Here’s an easy make-at-home churros recipe.

6. Flan

Few desserts are more popular in Spain than flan!
No matter what kind it is, it’s delicious!

Vanilla flan, egg flan, cheese flan, coconut flan, chestnut flan, Christmas chocolate flan… Spain is all about the flan. This rich, gelatinous dessert is made from milk, sugar and eggs, which are mixed into a metal mold that is then placed in a water bath (known in Spain as a baño Maria). 

Once cooked and cooled the mold is turned upside down onto a plate, allowing that heavenly bottom layer of caramel to cascade down the wobbly mountain of flan. Yum!

Taste Lauren’s Spanish flan recipe!

7. Miguelitos

One of the most addicting Spanish desserts ever: Miguelitos filled with chocolate.
How can you resist? Photo credit: mumumio from Flickr CC

There are few things more dangerous for me to have in the house than a box full of Miguelitos. These tall squares of fluffy phyllo-like dough filled with, in my case, chocolate are slightly bigger than a matchbox. One just isn’t enough and the whole box is a bit too much (oops!).

Made from umpteen layers of thin pastry, they tend to disintegrate into a million flakey pieces with each bite. Yet somehow, the genius pastry chef who invented them managed to make these airy pastries marvelously moist and packed with a potent punch of chocolate ganache (or cream) in the center.

What are your favorite Spanish desserts?

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Amy Bingham

Spain lover, taste tester and unabashed wine sniffer. I've got an unshakable obsession for wild mushroom croquettes and rowdy food markets. I travel by my tastebuds and am a firm believer that every dish has a story to tell. Check out my food adventures on my blog, Restless Fork.
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Latest posts by Amy Bingham (see all)

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Food, Spanish Culture

Comments

  1. Trevor Huxham says

    November 19, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    I’m the biggest fan of tarta de Santiago, but if I see “natillas” on the menu you know I’m gonna ask for that…even more so if it’s “natillas de la abuela” 😉 I just love the combo of simple, vanilla and/or lemon-infused custard with cinnamon and maria cookies.

    Reply
  2. sillygirl says

    November 27, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    I made your Spanish cheesecake for dessert last night – our untraditional Thanksgiving feast – topped it with a little apricot preserve – the perfect thing after our Asian dinner. In April we will be visiting Spain so we are looking forward to your list of special foods to taste. Thanks for all your recipes!

    Reply
    • Lauren Aloise says

      November 29, 2015 at 10:36 pm

      Thank you for reading! Glad it came out well. Apricot preserves sound delicious!

      Reply
      • glenys says

        May 5, 2016 at 10:37 am

        it seems nice and delious

        Reply
    • Anonymous says

      February 25, 2017 at 2:30 am

      Yuuuuum
      Sounds delicious!

      Reply
  3. Piers says

    September 16, 2016 at 1:06 am

    can anyone tell me what the round baked dough with cream in the middle is called? I had some and it is amazing!

    Reply
    • Magda says

      August 21, 2018 at 10:57 pm

      Lioneses o profiterols.. yes, a good one as well

      Reply
  4. Jessica Gilbert says

    October 17, 2016 at 3:50 am

    Me gusta el flan mucho.
    Hice mi propio toque personal mediante la adición de la mezcla de torta amarilla para ella. esto lo hace aún mejor y se lo recomendaría a todo el mundo al que le gusta el flan tradicional

    Reply
  5. Sergio says

    December 19, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    Obviously the list could be longer, but if I could add just one, it’d be one which is not very popular in the rest of Spain but is definitely in my top 3: Piononos de Santa Fé (Granada)
    If you try them you’ll have to change the list!

    Reply
    • Lauren Aloise says

      December 21, 2016 at 7:40 pm

      Mmm, true! I need to do a round 2!

      Reply
  6. SUE says

    March 3, 2017 at 1:49 am

    I love their dessert their the best.

    Reply
  7. flo says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    i love flan.

    Reply
  8. Sandra leone says

    July 10, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    We just. A k from cuenca Spain 4 days at the paradoxes de Cuenca& 6 days in Marbella side trip to tangier morroco, what a wounderful trip!!! Food was beautiful, our son was doing a six mint internship in Cuenca has his Bs degree in language& culture in Spanish, what an experience, planned the whole thing myself, a few mistakes, that’s ok small lessons learned IAM DEFINATELY GOING BACK TO EXPERIENCE ALOT MORES

    Reply
    • Lauren Aloise says

      July 16, 2017 at 8:34 pm

      So happy to hear it!

      Reply
    • Alison says

      July 29, 2017 at 10:40 pm

      We are doing the day trip to Tangier in September and would love your insight and hints of great things to see, do, and purchase while there.

      Reply
      • Lauren Aloise says

        July 31, 2017 at 10:19 am

        I’ve never been to Tangier! But enjoy!

        Reply
  9. Sherry says

    July 23, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    So before this post makes me start butchering the Mediterranean diet by eating nothing but the dessert part…why would churros never be found on a dessert menu in Spain? I assume you mean menus at full restaurants, not cafes.

    Reply
    • Lauren Aloise says

      July 31, 2017 at 10:22 am

      Hi Sherry! Here in Spain we eat churros for breakfast or for an afternoon snack (merienda). Never for dessert!

      Reply
  10. Samuel Collins says

    April 9, 2018 at 10:40 am

    My fav is buñuelos

    Reply
  11. Robert says

    February 4, 2019 at 10:14 pm

    I wouldn’t mind trying some MIGUELITOS!!!!!!

    Reply
  12. anas sabir says

    February 12, 2019 at 3:52 pm

    why dont you put your videos on youtube

    Reply
    • Lauren Aloise says

      February 15, 2019 at 1:13 pm

      I should!

      Reply

Trackbacks

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