A polvorón is a type of heavy, soft, and very crumbly Spanishshortbread made of flour, sugar, milk, and nuts. They are mostly produced in Andalusia, where there are about 70 factories that are part of a syndicate that produces polvorones and mantecados. Under the name mantecados, these sweets are a traditional preparation of other areas of the Iberian Peninsula as well. Polvorones are popular holiday delicacies in all of Spain, Hispanic America and the Philippines. Traditionally, they were prepared from September to January but are now available all year round.
Mantecado
Mantecado is a name for a variety of Spanish shortbreads that includes the polvorón. Often both names are synonymous, but not all mantecados are polvorones. The name mantecado comes from manteca, usually the fat of Iberian pig, with which they are made, while the name polvorón is based on the fact that these cakes crumble easily into a kind of dust in the hand or the mouth. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, mantecado is an ice cream and in Spain it may be also the name given to a kind of sweet sherbet. In the Philippines, mantecado is a popular traditional ice cream flavour, characterised as a mixture of vanilla and butter. It was served during the 29 September 1898 luncheon banquet that followed the Malolos Congress' ratification of the Philippine Declaration of Independence in June that year.
Regional variations
Cuba
In Cuba, it is one of the most common flavors of ice cream. Cuba, being the Latin American country in the Caribbean where Spain had the most interest and influence, has adapted the flavors of mantecado or polvorones from Spain into a delicious and beloved flavor for Cuban ice cream. Known worldwide for the delicious flavoring, what some might call a Latin vanilla, this Cuban flavor has influenced ice cream flavors made in other Latin American places such as Puerto Rico.
Philippines
The Filipino version of polvorón uses a large amount of powdered milk which is left dry, as well as toasted flour, sugar, and butter or margarine instead of lard. A number of local variants on the traditional polvorónrecipe have been made. Well-known variants include polvorón with kasuy, with pinipig and with malunggay leaves. Strawberry, chocolate-coated, ube, peanut, and cookies and cream flavoured polvorón also exist.
Spain
Polvorones are a common Christmas dessert in Spain. Today, there are other options for the fat used in the sweet other than pig fat, like cow fat, as well as vegetarian polvorones and mantecados made with olive oil.
