The best pastries in Tenerife: traditional Christmas sweets

The gastronomy of the Canary Islands includes a wide variety of delicacies, from hot dishes such as “escaldón de gofio” or potatoes with pork ribs and corn on the cob, to desserts such as “frangollo” or Uruguayan “polvito”. Within this selection of Canarian delicacies, we would like to make a mention of the best Tenerife pastries, such as the ones made of puff pastry and filled with guava or angel-hair jam, typical at Christmas time, as well as other traditional sweets from the island.

Even though their consumption is closely associated with Christmas and Three Kings’ Day celebrations, these sweets are now available all year round for everyone to enjoy. This is a great news for those with a sweet tooth, as they can find them in different patisseries on the island. If you have not tried them now will be a perfect occasion to do it.

Puff pastry is one of the most popular traditional sweets in the north of Tenerife, especially the ones with guava filling, although it is also delicious with the angel-hair jam. These pastries, a speciality of the Tenerife municipality of Los Realejos, are characteristic of the Christmas holidays, although they can now be enjoyed all year round in various sweets shops.

“Laguneros” from San Cristóbal de La Laguna

“Laguneros” belong to the typical sweets from San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a city in Tenerife that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. This sweet, a representative symbol of the city of La Laguna, is shaped like a doughnut, made with puff pastry and filled with angel hair jam. It is also covered with a syrup made from sugar, lemon juice and water, which gives it a sweetness and an appearance that makes it hard to resist trying.

This is a typical sweet from the Canary Islands, which is made mainly at Christmas time and usually filled with sweet potato. The original name is “trucha” which literally translates as trout and it refers to the shape of the delicacy. The “truchas” are prepared with sweet potato and almonds and might also have matalauva, cinnamon, lemon zest and anis liqueur in the filling. The dough is made with flour, water, butter, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once the dough has been rolled out into different pieces, it is filled with the mixture and folded over by crimping the edges together with a fork. As the final step, they are fried and left to cool and then sprinkled with a little sugar.

The municipality of Tacoronte has a history of over 350 years of preparing “turrón” also known as Spanish nougat. This delicary is a must in most of the popular festivities celebrated in this town during the year. This nougat is made by specialised confectioners who are called “turroneras” or “turroneros” and who have preserved the family tradition. This is probably one of the most famous sweets that everyone can find them on the stalls of the different festivities of the Islands, in a wrapper with white and red stripes.

While reviewing the typical sweets of Tenerife, one must absolutely include the egg rosquetes, traditionally made in Guía de Isora. This municipality in the south of the island is known for its excellent traditional confectionery, including these delicious rosquetes that are particularly popular during this festive period.

Vilaflor de Chasna Almond Cakes

The cake from Vilaflor de Chasna, also known as “torta chasnera”, is an almond cake made from the traditional recipes left behind by the local sweets makers. The almonds are accompanied by other ingredients such as egg, flour, matalauva, sugar and lemon, which are mixed and baked to produce this delicious cake typical of Tenerife.