Traditional Easter desserts 

Gastronomy encompasses a world of traditions that are expressed simply and in style with the arrival of Easter Week. Many kitchens get ready to prepare traditional dishes that have been created from past needs. which were punctuated by austerity. They represent an insignia of Easter and the Vigil that manifests in both their ingredients and in the way they are prepared.  

Humble desserts that become simple delights based on bread, flour, milk, eggs and sugar, which came about as a way of providing more calories and dealing with fasting to prevent the devout country folk from ending up worn out. 

The possibilities are endless: from the buñuelos, whose dough is perfumed with white wine, the zest of citrus fruit and aniseed; to pestiños, which consist of a mixture of fried flour and aniseed, taking the shape of a firm folded layer bathed in honey or sugar; to the classics such as torrijas or leche frita, which still continue to gain converts. 

In Catalonia, the la mona de pascua stands out. It is usually prepared with a mixture that is similar to a sponge and has a chocolate egg, or another type of figure, placed on the top. They are also usually decorated with crystallised fruit and, sometimes, they are filled with jam. The mona is finished off with a series of decorations such as feathers or baby chick figures.  

There are also traditional monas in the Valencian Community, although these are different from the Catalan ones. They are simpler, with a rich, spongy cake which has a hard-boiled egg at its centre. They don’t tend to have decorations, although, different-coloured aniseed balls are used for the children. Another traditional dessert of the area is panquemado.

Getting to know some of these desserts is a way of travelling through the geography of Spain, and preparing them at home is a way of connecting with other places. The suggestions below are both very interesting and different.

Pestiños

Traditional Andalusian recipe with Moorish origins.

Ingredients (10 persons)

- 250 g flour

- 70 ml semi-sweet white wine

- 70 ml olive oil 

- 2-3 orange and lemon zest

- ½ teaspoon sesame 

- ½ teaspoon star anise

- 100 ml olive oil

- 20 g honey

Instructions

1.  Fry the orange and lemon zest in the oil for a few minutes. Once it is golden and the oil is hot, remove the zest and add the star anise. Turn off the heat and let the oil cool down to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the cooled oil and the white wine. Work the mixture until you have a fine dough that does not stick to the side of the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for half an hour.

2.  When the time has passed, roll out the dough with a rolling pin, cut it into 4 cm strips and then into squares. Fold the corners inwards and stick them down with a drop of water. Leave them to rest for 30 minutes before frying them. 

3. Heat up a frying pan with abundant oil and fry the pestiños in batches, turning them so that they are browned on both sides. When they are browned, drain them on kitchen paper towels and dunk them in a mixture of honey with some spoonfuls of water, heating them briefly on the cooker, or sprinkle them with sugar.

Arnadí

Traditional dessert from the coastal region (Valencia)

Ingredients (10 persons)

- 250 g pumpkin

- 250 g sweet potato

- 1 orange (zest)

- 1 lemon (zest)

- 100 g honey

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger

- 1 teaspoon powdered aniseed

- 6 dried apricots

- 100 g almond flour

- 20 almonds (decoration)

- 20 pine nuts (decoration)

Instructions

1. Bake the pumpkin and sweet potato at 200 ºC for 1 hour. Remove the flesh and leave it to drain overnight in a cloth over a strainer to remove as much water as possible. This way, you will achieve a more compact dough.

2. Put the pumpkin and sweet potato flesh through a food mill. Add the orange and lemon zest, the honey, the egg yolk, cinnamon, powdered ginger, powdered aniseed, the chopped dried apricots and the almond flour. 

3. In a clay pot, shape the dough into a volcano. Decorate it with the almonds and pine nuts. Bake it at 150ºC for 1 hour, checking that the surface does not burn.

Ingredients (12 persons)

For the sponge:

- 170 g pastry flour

- 30 g maize flour

- 200 g sugar

- 6 eggs, large

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract 

- 1 pinch of salt

Intructions for the sponge

1.  Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

2. Grease a mould with butter and sprinkle it with flour or non-stick spray. 

3. Sieve the pastry flour, the maize flour and the salt, then put aside. Place the eggs in the food processor bowl and whisk for approximately 5 minutes at high speed until they triple in volume and have a creamy texture.  

4. While whisking, add the sugar and continue to whisk for 5 more minutes. Before ending this process, also add the vanilla extract.  

5. Incorporate both flours and the salt by hand using a spatula, using circular movements, until no lumps remain.  

6. Pour into the mould and bake at 180ºC, on top or bottom oven, for 30/35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
7. Remove from the oven, run a knife along the sides of the mould, take out of the mould and leave to rest on a cooling mesh.