Christmas is here and with it the highest consumption of the whole year of typical products that delight any palate. At MadeinSpain.store we know that Christmas sweets take center stage at family dinners, both on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. After celebrating the New Year there is no other delicacy that can be better tasted with a glass of cava. A piece of nougat, an ice cream, a polvorón, a marzipan ...

• Great Diversity
• Five Christmas sweets with IGP
• Innovation in Christmas sweets
• Less sugar and with an ecological seal

Every year the confectionery or Spanish confectionery works at full speed on these dates to offer the best sweets, those that are very popular among our gastronomy. Already in the months before Christmas, many consumers go to supermarkets and candy stores in search of their favorites.

The nougat They represent the jewel in the crown among all the delicacies that serve to sweeten the palate and pamper yourself on holidays. Of course, they are not the only ones in the Christmas repertoire. Next, we present the great diversity existing and current trends.

Great diversity

We can find a wide diversity of Christmas sweets that are made in Spain with recipes tradicionales that have passed from generation to generation. Entire families in charge of ensuring that these typical products are not missing from your table every Christmas have continued the work of their ancestors. In many cases following manufacturing methods craft.

These two aspects -tradition and craftsmanship- are present in the most prestigious delicacies that even have Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Do you know that there are currently up to five recognized with that distinctive?

Five Christmas sweets with IGP

The nougats of Jijona and Alicante perhaps they sound more familiar to you due to their great popularity in Spain, but it is also worth mentioning the nougat from Agramunt. From this municipality located in the province of Lleida, this Christmas sweet made with stone is born.

On the other hand, there are Toledo marzipan, One Christmas sweets characterized by the multiple forms they can take. They are marketed under different names depending on how they are. The eels They are one of the most striking and spectacular to look at… and on the palate!

From Castilla La-Mancha we go to the south of Spain because from Seville the Polvorones and Estepa mantecados. These typical Christmas delicacies are also made in the Sevillian town with different flavors (traditional homemade, chocolate, lemon, oil, cinnamon, coconut, etc.).

They close this group of Christmas sweets with IGP products that are somewhat more unknown but worth mentioning: the alfajores from Medina Sidonia (Cádiz). They are elongated bars with a rounded shape that contain a mixture of pure honey, almonds, hazelnuts and different spices. These contribute to caramel cookie a characteristic touch.

To those recognized with this seal we could add other types of pastry creations where the main ingredients are also usually nuts and sugars. For example, stuffed almonds, snow-covered or chocolate puff pastries, wine rolls, saint's bones, coconut balls, rocks, truffles, chocolates of all kinds ...

Innovation in Christmas sweets

The list could be endless since in each Spanish province there are versions or different types of the same christmas candy. Small bakeries and bakery families prepare them with their most personal touch to differentiate themselves from the competition. In that line, one of the tendencies in recent years has been the innovation, which has been added to the product in search of originality and distinction.

Here, too, the examples are very varied, but we are going to refer to one of the most recognized masters of nougat in Spain: Albert Adrià. The Catalan chef specializing in pastry has made nougat his passion to come up with recipes with which to turn his creations into authentic attractive desserts.

Although those Adrià proposals are shaped like nougats, for the fusion of flavors and due to the daring bet of ingredients selected by him, it transcends that category. So, you can taste nougat of different drinks (mojito, beer, wine, gin and tonic, vermouth ...), popular desserts (tiramisu, tarte tatin, cheesecake) and even ... chips! This has been his great novelty this 2020. For him, innovating does not understand limits.

Less sugar and with an ecological seal

Another interesting growing trend that is linked to the growing consumer concern about eating healthier and more sustainable food. All the sugar reductions are coming to baked goods so enjoying them doesn't spike your glucose levels. Some brands are already very committed to this aspect, as well as to using environmentally friendly manufacturing methods.

Us, from MadeinSpain.store we also think about those two added values. That's why you can already find in our store the exclusive nougat by Comida Real Food. Of course, we also have nougat with more traditional flavors such as Extra quality chocolate and hazelnuts and burnt egg yolk. Germany 1879, where design and tradition are combined. Besides cookies and candy sin azúcar de Caroline Honest or the chocolate bars with Salt of Ibiza, also ecological.

This Christmas savor only the best with the Christmas sweets made in Spain, enjoy tradition, craftsmanship and innovation!

AUTHOR: Iván Sevilla, journalist expert in digital and audiovisual content. Specialized in gastronomy and sports. TV reporter.