The Alicante Monastery Exporting Its Sweets Worldwide

The pastries from the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and Saint Lucia in Orihuela are crossing borders. Tortadas and almojábanas reach the Atlantic Ocean and also conquer the Asian continent. These high-quality monastic sweets, which have a long history and are entirely handmade, are "made with love, responsibility, dedication, in silence and prayer," says Sister María Pilar.

A vast recipe book is preserved and valued in this convent, a place of worship that also leaves space for the know-how and creativity of the nuns in the bakery. Ancestral flavours delicately adapt to new sweet formulas. Traditional creations that do not leave the palate indifferent due to their variety and exquisite taste, which are heavenly. So much so that these Dominican nuns receive orders from all over the world.

"The easiest to send is the box of 6 chatos. Many people want to gift typical products from their place of origin, and when they have bought them, they have told us where they were going." From European countries to "the United States, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Mexico, India, and Japan," for example. Artisan products that carry "ingredients from our land and are slowly made" to accompany special moments, expresses Sister María Pilar.

The production of sweets from this Orihuela convent has been known since its foundation. One must go back centuries. "In our old convent of Santa Lucia, founded on July 31, 1602, located in the current Santa Lucia square in Orihuela and burned down during the civil war in 1936, it is documented that we made: alfajores, crespillos, meladas, orejitas, pastel de soplillo, huesos de santo, candied fruits, chatos, sweet potato cakes, meat pies, pellas, Murcian rolls, almond cookies, almojábanas, pasta flora, zamarras, toñas and pumpkin cakes, to name a few examples."

For the syrup: One pound of sugar in half a litre or a little more water. Make a syrup and soak both parts.

For the filling: 6 yolks and 6 ounces of sugar. Make the yolk sweet by dissolving the sugar in a cup of water cooking it until it reaches a point. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Then incorporate the already beaten yolks and cook them. Be careful not to curdle them. When it boils again remove from heat and add lemon zest to the yolks.

Meringue mix: For 10 egg whites use 32 ounces of sugar at the same consistency as almond cookies.

A dedication that continues to this day with some pauses along the way due to force majeure reasons such as during the Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War. It was after this war episode when the nuns went to the Trinity monastery regrouped and boosted their bakery. "Our main dedication is prayer and all our schedule is distributed for this purpose. When there is work in the bakery we use morning hours approximately from 9 to 13." For the community it is an economic sustenance. "We are all involved according to our abilities under the supervision of a person in charge. Our work is communal and constitutes our means of living."

Sales that the sisters make with much love and gratitude through a revolving door that turns to offer products such as brazo de gitano (Swiss roll), tomato empanadas (pies), tarta reina (queen cake), cream sticks (eclairs), anise or egg rolls (biscuits), orange cookies and jams made from tomato fruits aromatics orange grapefruit fig among other delicacies not forgetting tortadas and sponge cakes of various sizes. "There has always been a custom of gifting sponge cake to new mothers upon their return from hospital." They also prepare Christmas season specialties like yemas (egg yolk sweets), toñas (sweet bread), polvorones (shortbread cookies), coconuts sultanas walnuts with marzipan almond cookies sweet potato or angel hair pastries imperials (nougat) mantecados (lard cakes) which stand out on a long list.

One of the most demanded products is tortada. A recipe preserved in a notebook in archives used privately by some nun who was responsible for baking at the now disappeared Santa Lucia convent. "It has been a classic star sweet since the community settled at Trinity convent opting almost exclusively for making sweets as their livelihood since the 1950s." In this sense they highlight that "everything is natural we buy raw materials: flour starch eggs sugar.

From these products we make sponge cake yolk meringue I believe star ingredient syrup soaking almond sponge cake filled with yolk manual decoration piping bag meringue although many clients prefer yolk ask tortada double layer without meringue only toasted yolk," explains Sister María Pilar who adds "the secret not only lies almond sponge cake yolk meringue but also syrup soaking tortada very common hear when ordered 'Well soaked sister'."

In recent years novelty chocolate "Same tortada requested filling covering chocolate pleasing everyone family half traditional other half chocolate reduced size individual equivalent portion." For them "beautiful confirm families events prefer nuns' tortadas accompanied birthdays weddings retirements parties." Recipes centuries-old history representative local gastronomy internationally renowned.