Sweets from the Convent of San Antonio de Padua

Many monasteries and convents continue to make cakes and pastries using traditional recipes that are centuries old. Behind closed doors, they continue to work devotedly to making "roscos" (round biscuits flavored with wine or anisette), pastries, puff pastries, "tejas de almendra" (almond tile biscuits), "cocadas" (coconut bites), and "tocinitos de cielo" (made from caramelized egg yolk). These "divine" sweets have helped to keep many religious orders going.

Some of the more famous ones are "yemas de Santa Teresa" (egg-yolk pastries) from the Church-Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesús in Ávila; "yemas de San Leandro" from Seville; "amarguillos de Santa Clara" (almond cakes) from Tordesillas; "bollitos de Santa Inés" (sweet buns) from Seville; "rosquillas de Santa Rosa" (doughnuts) from Nuestra Señora de la Piedad monastery in Palencia; and quince jelly made by the Clarisa de Marchena nuns at the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, to name but a few.