Enjoying traditional pastries during a trip to the island is a delicious way of experiencing the culture, history and gastronomic features of Tenerife. This small area offers a great variety of typical sweets prepared with fresh, natural ingredients. They are a representation of the popular island culture.
Most of these delights are eaten all year round, but some are only prepared at special times. They are prepared using local produce, such as the almonds and sweet potatoes grown on the island.
You can follow a particularly tempting pastry route on Tenerife, following in the tracks of the rich island bakery tradition. It is a particularly suggestive and attractive route for those with a sweet tooth.
Typical pastries from Tenerife
Egg doughnut from Guía de Isora
One of the best-kept secrets in the town of Guía de Isora is the recipe for its traditional rosquetes de huevo (egg doughnuts). It is a special pastry prepared in the south of Tenerife by a number of local families, with outstanding flavour, texture and quality.
This doughnut is somewhat larger than normal, and can be prepared either fried or baked. In Guía de Isora, the doughnuts are so delicious and so famous that people from other islands make the trip to the town with the sole purpose of trying the delicious pastries.
As well as the egg doughnuts, Guía de Isora has a well-earned reputation for its cuisine, as demonstrated by its trout filled with almonds, almond cakes, huesitos (fried sticks of dough) filled with almonds and a wide variety of mantecados (crumble cakes).
Almond cake from Vilaflor de Chasna
Also known as tortas chasneras, these almond cakes are a typical pastry made in the region of Chasna in the south of Tenerife. It is an artisanal delicacy based on the traditional recipes of women pastry-makers from Chasna, who once travelled around the different towns in the south of the island selling their special products during local festivities.
The secret of this pastry lies in the exquisite quality of the almonds used to make it, which are gathered in Vilaflor itself, a town with a great baking tradition. In February it puts on a show to celebrate the flowering of its almond trees.
Apart from almonds, the ingredients of this typical dish from the region of Chasna – and also one of the most popular of pastries among people from Tenerife – are eggs, flour, aniseed, sugar and lemon, all carefully blended and baked.
Flaky pastry cake from Los Realejos
The pastel de hojaldre (flaky pastry cake) is one of the outstanding traditional pastries from the north of Tenerife. It is mainly eaten at Christmas, but now it can also be enjoyed all year round. Every Christmas table in Tenerife must have its box of flaky pastry cakes.
Traditionally, these cakes have been made in the town of Los Realejos. They are made up of fine, crispy layers of flaky pastry concealing a sweet surprise, as they are filled with either guava or angel-hair jam.
Once they are prepared, they are sprinkled with a little sugar before eating. Delicious. The traditional pastry is cylindrical, but in recent years half-pastries have become popular.
Laguneros from San Cristóbal de La Laguna
The lagunero is a typical pastry from San Cristóbal de La Laguna, the former capital of Tenerife, a city on the UNESCO World Heritage list and well-worth visiting.
Its historic old town centre, located around the Plaza del Adelantado, preserves the charm of colonial cities constructed in the early 16th century. Among the historic buildings, shops, bars and restaurants there are also patisseries where you can top to enjoy a delicious lagunero pastry.
The lagunero is the iconic pastry of the city of La Laguna. It is a traditional sweet whose pastry is a special combination of flour and fat, and filled with angel-hair jam.
Nougat from Tacoronte
The town of Tacoronte in the north of Tenerife is the birthplace of nougat (turrón) on the island. It is the only municipality where traditional nougat going back over 350 years is made by families who have preserved its recipe over the generations.
The women selling nougat from their traditional stalls travel from one local fair to another across Tenerife, offering their tasty products, including nougat, with its traditional form of packaging, using a wrapping with red and white stripes, as well as the famous caramel-coated almonds and typical sweet almond, coconut or peanut balls.
All the products are made with the highest quality ingredients; what’s more, it is the only nougat manufacturer in the world that makes it in a wood oven. It is an autochthonous product from Tenerife with a texture and flavour different from that of other nougats made in different parts of the world. Its manufacture and presentation make it particularly unusual.
The nougat of Tacoronte is prepared with toasted and peeled Marcona almonds, some icing sugar and a touch of lemon and cinnamon. The nougat mass is placed between round wafers ready for consumption.
Both the nougat and the women making them are very well known at the popular fairs in the towns on the island. All the traditional fairs have their travelling stalls of Tacoronte nougat. If you want to eat it at any other time you have to order it specially.
Any of the sweets and parties typical of the island of Tenerife are best accompanied by the famous barraquito or zaperoco, a characteristic type of layered coffee made up of a careful combination of full-cream milk, condensed milk, lemon zest, a little cinnamon and a few drops of liqueur. We can recommend the experience not only to sweet-toothed visitors to the island of Tenerife.
