Monastic Products Fair

At the ABC Serrano shopping centre in Madrid, a fair of monastic sweets is being held until 20 December. Desserts made in enclosed monasteries in Spain and Europe are sold here.

At the stalls, visitors can find mantecados, polvorones, marzipans and nougats, as well as unusual recipes: clarisse egg yolks, Moroccan sponge cake, panettone and caramelised walnuts. This year, unusual flavours have been added to the classics: nougat with matcha, sweets with tea and caramelised pistachios.

Purchases support the monastic communities, for whom manual work remains part of their lives. In addition to sweets, the fair showcases natural cosmetics from monastery gardens.