Marzipan from Toledo
One of the most typical souvenirs you can take home from Toledo, and one of the city's most famous products, is marzipan. Wandering through the city center, you'll find numerous shops dedicated to selling this delicious, handcrafted treat. While marzipan is typically associated with the Christmas season in the rest of Spain, in Toledo it's a product you can find and enjoy year-round. You can buy it in various ways: pre-packaged in souvenir and food shops, or sold by weight – as it is in artisan workshops. And let's not forget the convents in the city center where nuns make marzipan and other pastries their main source of income.
Marzipan is made from simple, common ingredients like almonds, sugar, honey, and eggs, but it's the kneading and baking techniques that make it a unique sweet. In Toledo, the tradition and skill of local artisans result in a product made to a special standard of quality, which has even earned it a protected geographical indication.
Marzipan is sold mainly in small pieces with various shapes, the typical figurines, but in Toledo it is also traditional to sell it in a spiral shape known as an eel, to which candied fruits or angel hair are added.
There are many artisan marzipan workshops in Toledo, and it won't be difficult to find where to buy this product. However, some places stand out more than others within the city's wide range of shops. The Santo Tomé workshop, located right on Plaza de Zocodover—Toledo's most famous square—is one of the most popular in the city; but we mustn't forget convents like San Clemente el Real or the Convent of the Discalced Augustinian Nuns.
Without a doubt, a sweet treat you shouldn't miss when you stay at our hotel in the center of Toledo.