sweet treats
Enjoying a city or region’s signature treat is one of the joys of travel, so don’t stint!
BY SARAH RODRIGUES
It may have been wildly inappropriate for Marie Antoinette to declare “Let them eat cake” back in the 18th century – but now? She’d be our kind of lady. After all, life is sweet, sure, but it can always be sweeter, so why wave away the dessert trolley? Especially at this time of year: indulgence and decadence are practically synonymous with the festive season, and there are so many sugary ways to celebrate.
Although some sweet treats are particular to Christmas, many others are, fortunately, available year-round. So, when you’re ready to break those New Year’s resolutions, there’ll be an eye-rollingly good confection ready and waiting for you, right across the whole of the bmibaby network!
Turrón, Alicante
500 calories per 100g
Primarily available at Christmastime, variations of this nougaty treat exist throughout Spain, but Jijona, about 20km from Alicante, is said to be the Spanish birthplace of turrón, with Alicante itself also famed for the confection. There are two types, both containing eggs, sugar, honey and almonds, but there are slight differences between them – the Alicante variety is hard and must contain 64% whole almonds, while the Jijona version contains a drop of oil and 60% nuts, which have been pounded to a paste, giving the turrón a chewier texture.
Verdict: tooth-janglingly sweet (but hey, the high-in-nutrients almonds are a redeeming feature!)
Deep-fried Mars Bar, Aberdeen
420 calories
Best made with a chilled Mars Bar, to stop the chocolate dissolving in the hot fat of the deep-fryer, these artery-gagging confections first appeared around 1995 in the Carron fish and chip shop in Stonehaven, just outside of Aberdeen. Rumours of their existence – and popularity – caused enough of a furore with health officials to have them investigated by British medical journal The Lancet, in 2004. The findings concluded that around a quarter of Scottish chippies sell hundreds of them a week at about 60p a pop.
Verdict: och aye, it’s not just your teeth you should be worried about: this is a batter-coated heart attack-to-go!
Xocolata, Barcelona
180 calories per cup
Darker and less sweet than the hot chocolate you might be accustomed to, this version is also thicker, with the consistency of custard or of a chocolate pudding that hasn’t quite set. It can be served with churros (fried, doughnut-like strips of pastry dusted with sugar, for dunking), but melindros, a small, spongey biscuit are more authentically Barcelonan. Head to the café at the Museum of Chocolate ( 36 Comerç, www.pastisseria.cat/en/PortadaMuseu) or to one of the xocolateries in Carrer de Petritxol for some of the best xocolata, although most of the cafés throughout the city offer it.
Verdict: a good long ramble down Las Ramblas should work off some of those calories – and the chocolate is so rich and satisfying that you’re not in any real danger of over-indulging
Stroopwafels, Amsterdam
170 calories per cookie
Made up of two large, thin, buttery round waffles filled with a sticky, caramel syrup, these biscuits are rich and sinfully sweet. Although they officially originated in Gouda in 1784, they’re available everywhere in Amsterdam. Expect to pay more if you buy them at the airport or souvenir shops, so stock up at a grocery store.
For the real deal, though, head to the Albert Cuypmarkt (Albert Cuypstraat, www.albertcuypmarkt.com) where a warm, freshly made waffle will be cut in half and then stuck together with the sweet filling as you stand with your mouth watering and your hand out. If you buy the ready-made version, place the stroopwafel over a cup of tea or coffee to get the filling melted and sticky.
Verdict: not so bad if you stick to one or two, but quite frankly, who has that kind of self-control?
Bara brith, Cardiff
320 calories per 100g
Literally translated as “speckled bread”, this traditional Welsh fruitcake can be sampled at just about any tearoom or bakery in Cardiff. Packed with dried fruit and peel, which is traditionally soaked overnight in cold tea, it’s made with yeast and lard and often features a honey glaze.
Eat it smothered in butter and washed down with hot tea.
Verdict: as the name suggests, this is actually bread, not a cake – so if a few slices of the stuff gives you some Catherine Zeta-Jones-style curves, well, so much the better. Maybe just go easy on the butter!
Trdelnik, Prague
250 calories per 65g serving
A sweet pastry with Czech/Slovak origins, trdelnik dates back to the 17th century and is made by wrapping dough around a wooden or metal spit and spinning it over a fire until crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Dusted with sugar, cinnamon and a sprinkling of nuts, they’re sold by street vendors and at open-air markets, but if they’re not authentically Czech enough for you (it’s actually – sssh – Slovakia that has the EU registration on them) then try medovnik, a multi-layered honey cake with a creamy filling and a sprinkling of walnuts. It’s wildly popular in Prague and available in most cafés and restaurants.
Verdict: whichever of these sugar-packed lovelies you choose, you’re going to need to give yourself some TLC of a healthier variety to compensate!
Ensaïmada de Majorca, Palma de Majorca
350 calories per ensaïmada, depending on the filling
These sweet breakfast pastries are so distinctively Majorcan that they’ve been awarded PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) by the European Commission, with around 60 bakeries on the island carrying the Ensaïmada de MajorcaOfficial Guarantee and adhering to regulations determining the pastry’s weight, ingredients and even the direction of the spiral! Made with hand-stretched dough which is smeared with saïm (lard), it’s available llisa (plain) or with a filling, including chocolate, apricot and turrón paste. Look out for cabell d’angel (angel hair), which is the stringy bit from inside a pumpkin mixed with sugar and rolled in ensaïmada dough.
Verdict: eat them for breakfast rather than an afternoon snack – you’ll have more time to burn off the calories (and most bakeries sell out by mid-morning!)
Panettone, Milan
460 calories per 100g
There’s no end of whimsical tales surrounding this traditional Christmas sweet bread, which contains sugar, raisins and candied peel. One of the more romantic stories links it to a 15th-century knight, Ughetto degli Antellari, who fell in love with the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. Posing as an apprentice to get closer to his sweetheart, Ughetto combined some of the fancier flavours that he was accustomed to with Toni’s basic ingredients. The resulting cake made Toni’s fortune and, of course, the knight got the girl. In any case, there’s no doubt that it originated in Milan. Traditionally, it was eaten at Christmas, when the head of the family would carve a cross into the surface before distributing it among the family, saving one piece for the following year. These days it’s eaten throughout the festive season and in mid-February on the feast day of San Biagio (patron saint of the throat!) to ensure good health for the coming year.
Verdict: too bready to feel like it could possibly be bad for you and, besides, thanks to San Biagio, it’s associated with good health. Eat freely, we say!
