Aug 1, 20234 min read

Most iconic typical Mexican sweets

Updated: Nov 1

Sweeten up your day with the Delicious Typical Mexican Sweets! 🍬🇲🇽

En México cada festividad tiene sus propios dulces

Mexico is known for its rich culture, traditions, and of course, its incredible pastry. Mexican typical sweets are a true explosion of flavors and colors that delight everyone who tries them. From ancient pre-Hispanic recipes to treats influenced by Spanish colonization.

Listing all the typical Mexican sweets would give us a long list that we could classify by regions, because "camotes" are from Puebla, and "morelianas" are from Morelia; but we could also group them by seasons, as you can hardly find "calaveritas de alfeñique" outside of October and November.

Thanks to the fruits we have here and those brought from Europe, fruit-based sweets are a spectacle. Have you tried "camotes," "calabazas," "chilacayote," pineapple, lime with coconut? They are a delight! We even venture into eccentricities like crystallized nopal or carrot. But hey, I can't forget to mention "acitrón," which is essential in the colorful "rosca de reyes" (king's cake) decorations, but also serves as a reminder to protect our nature and not overexploit the plant it comes from.

which are the most representative typical Mexican sweets?

Ate

Made with the pulp of quince or other cooked fruits, and then cooked directly with sugar in copper pots until it starts to release a sweet aroma and becomes transparent.

Dulce de leche o Jamoncillo

Jamoncillo is a traditional Mexican sweet made primarily from cow's or goat's milk and sugar.

The candy is a soft but firm moldable brown paste that can take any shape the artisan desires.

Walnuts are one of the ingredients that traditionally complement the recipe for this Mexican dessert.

Dulce cristalizado

Crystallized sweets consist of fresh fruit repeatedly bathed in boiling sugar until it turns into a delicious jewel. Besides fruits, you can crystallize and savor manzano chilies, avocados, nopal cactus, cucumber, onion, tomato, chayote, xoconostle, chilacayote, lemon, or "emborrachados" carrots with sugar.

Glorias

Exquisite sweets made with burnt milk, corn honey, vanilla, and nuts, typical of Nuevo León. The name of this sweet is uncertain, but it is believed that the consumers themselves named it because when they tried it, they "felt in heaven."

Coconut candy or "cocadas"

Are made from finely grated coconut with a hint of vanilla or lemon, then baked. In Tecolutla, Veracruz, during the Coconut Festival in 2012, they made "The World's Largest Cocada," measuring 226 meters and coming in 14 different flavors, breaking their own record from the previous year.

Alegrías

These are toasted amaranth seeds (a pre-Hispanic crop) bound together with sugar syrup and usually decorated with nuts and/or raisins. They are very nutritious!

Obleas y pepitorias

These are thin sheets of wheat, the same ones used for communion wafers. They are made round, with a little corn syrup, honey, or piloncillo and folded in half; pumpkin seeds (peeled pepitas) are placed on the edges, and they are often colored, although the original wafer is white.

Muéganos

With 106 years of being loved by people, "muéganos" born in San Martín Texmelucan around 1905 and consolidated in Tehuacán, Puebla, since 1938, according to Doña Flora Álvarez's recipes, are one of the icons among typical Mexican sweets. Made with honey and a subtle anise flavor, they are covered with a wafer. In other regions, they are prepared with wheat flour.

Palanqueta

They are usually made with crunchy roasted peanuts, mixed with piloncillo, honey, or sugar. However, you can also find them with other ingredients such as pumpkin or pepitas seeds (these "palanquetas" are also known as "pepitorias"), sesame seeds, nuts, or a combination of them.

Borrachitos

These are candies created in Mexico. They are made of flour, heavily dusted with sugar and filled with a creamy center of various flavors; the main ones are lemon, pineapple, strawberry, rompope, and others.

Mazapanes

Originally from Spain, marzipans found their home in Mexico. Made with ground almonds and sugar, these soft and almond-flavored sweets are an irresistible delight.

Sugar Skulls or Alfeñique Skulls

The sugar skull, sweet or alfeñique is a Mexican sweet that is traditionally prepared for the Day of the Dead (November 1 and 2). More than to be eaten, it has a decorative and symbolic use, since it is one of the elements of the altar of the dead.

Typically, calaveritas are made using the alfeñique technique, that is, sugar, hot water, egg white, and lemon, mixed to make a dough that can be molded. More modernly, chocolate or amaranth skulls are also prepared. Molds in the shape of a human skull are usually used, where the dough is allowed to dry and then decorated with vivid colors. The skull-shaped candy is made with a technique introduced by the Spanish, and it is believed that it was intended to simulate bone relics of saints, in the same way as the sweet called "saint's bones" in Spain.

The skull has a shiny paper strip on the forehead with the written name of the loved one who died, or of the person to whom you want to give this sweet.

These are just a few examples of the vast variety of typical Mexican sweets that you can find throughout the country. Each bite is a sample of the rich culinary tradition and the sweet essence of Mexico. So don't hesitate to try these delicious sugary treasures and sweeten your life with the magic of Mexican confectionery! 🍭🌮

Prepare your senses for a visual journey through the most authentic and traditional delicacies of Mexico. From the irresistible joys and glories, to the exquisite "camotes" and "calaveritas de alfeñique," each image captures the culinary magic of our country. Discover the richness of our crystallized fruits and the sweets that delight young and old at festivities and celebrations. Take a look at this sweet gallery and let yourself be seduced by the sweetness of Mexico! 🍭🌮🇲🇽