La Palma has a multitude of high quality bakeries and pastry shops, the result of the mixture of different cultures that for centuries has been enriching the popular recipes with the characteristic flavours of the island, such as almonds, sweet potato, corn flour, sugar, sugar cane honey, etc. Many recipes have been passed down from generation to generation, while others date from more recent times, as is the case of the dessert Príncipe Alberto, created by Doña Matilde Arroyo in the late 1950s.
BAKERIES AND PATISSERIES IN LA PALMA
We can find a multitude of typical sweets from the island. The best-known Palmero sweet is the rapadura. It is conical in shape and its main ingredients are cane honey, gofio, sugar, almonds, cinnamon and lemon.
Other sweets that are easy to find in shops, restaurants and street markets are almendrados, small pancakes made of almond paste with sugar and egg and baked in the oven.
Bienmesabe is also very popular and is undoubtedly one of the most famous desserts on the island. You can find it in every restaurant on the island. It can also be found packaged in some markets and supermarkets.
Most of the restaurants have their own desserts on their menus, including the aforementioned bienmesabe, lemon tart or Príncipe Alberto (chocolate, almonds and sponge cake), as well as quesillo.