Fluffy chocolate palm trees also come out of the bakery at Panadería Conejo.
We are not the first nor will we be the last to talk about them. The palm trees from Morata de Tajuña (Madrid) they stick out their chests in front of other more recent pastry creations to remind us that for decades they have been conquering the palate of those with a sweet tooth because of their interior: juicy, silky, unctuous... wonderful!
Such is their fame that they have their own celebration, the Fair of the Palmerita and the Sweet of Morata de Tajuña, whose third edition will be held in the town's Plaza Mayor on December 14 and 15.
ROYAL PALM
It was 1958 when the father of Elena and Marisa Real opened the bakery that gave rise to the Royal Pastry Shop, from whose ovens today a large part of the mini palm trees that have given so much fame to the town of Madrid of Morata de Tajuna.
A baker by profession (also his father was), he wanted to start a business on his own in which, in addition to bread, those who came to this privileged place located at number 15 of the central Calle Real could buy sweets as traditional as mantecados.
Wabi-sabi pastry chef: his heart shape is imperfect and it's something we love.
It took a few years for him to decide to embark on the adventure of making puff pastry delicacies, a rather complicated dough to work with. A pastry concern that we sweet addicts have to thank and that is now treasured by the Real sisters and her heirs, who get up every day at six in the morning to start shaping these little heart-shaped morsels. But not a perfect heart in the style of cartoons, but one closer to the real one, the authentic one, which does not seek to convince by its appearance, but by its essence.
Whether they are glazed, covered in dark chocolate (the best sellers), white or strawberry, these palmeritas convince with their balanced flavor, with their spongy texture and with that imperfect beauty (wabi-sabi as the Japanese would say) resulting from an artisan way of working in danger of extinction. In addition, they also make (upon request) an XXL super palm tree weighing more than a kilogram, perfect for special occasions.
Your secret? Obviously they have not revealed it to us, but we are sure that it has a lot to do with it, apart from the experience, that coverage 70% cocoa that it is being replaced by a more intense one (at 73%) with which they are already testing results; also not having succumbed to the greedy (and feared) industrialization: "We make every day 40 kilos of palm trees only for our exhibitor, in addition to the ones we sell at Carrefour La Gavia and Rivas–Vaciamadrid. We are very small and we do not want to expand production”, concludes Elena Real.
Colorful and palmy shop window in the Pastelería de la Torre.
CREATIVE PALM TREE
In the lower part of town, specifically at number 37 Calle de la Iglesia, there is another traditional business (it has been open for more than 50 years) that offers **a more soaked version (in syrup)** of these famous palm trees from Morata de Tajuña: La Torre Pastry Shop.
In it they assure that the recipe that has given us so many sweet joys was born, that is why they indicate on the box that they are "the authentic ones", or what is the same “softer”, the most drunk”, as Loli de la Torre tells us, who, together with her husband, José Rhodes, has surrendered to the demands of the market or, rather, to the creative work of her son, brains and inventor, among others, of the most commercial palmero Oreo.
They are so delicious that you will not be able to try just one.
Although the dark chocolate ones (in this case closer to milk chocolate) continue to be the most popular, in their showcase the pink color of the strawberry ones coexist (and stand out!) with the pristine coverage of the white chocolate ones and the gleaming gold of the frosted ones. A wide variety of puff pastry palmettos that makes it not uncommon to find a long queue outside your door on weekends, "when we have to bake twice as much," in Loli's words.
A wait that you can avoid if you visit the points of sale in the capital where to find them: at Mantequerías Bravo (Ayala, 24), at the Uria Hermanos Pastry Shop (Chamartín Market) and at Una España en la Mesa (Guzmán el Bueno, 82).
The coverage of the palmeritas of the Royal Pastry exceeds 70% cocoa.
ATTENTION TO TRENDS
Gema Elena Del Cerro is the third generation at the helm of Panadería Conejo (Calle Real, 53), open since 1912 and acquired by her family in 1940. In the premises, inherited from her grandfather, are dedicated to the sale of "authentic" bread, As they confirm, but from her enormous bakery they also produce, among other buns and sweets, palmeritas in the style of Morata de Tajuña that can also be purchased at the Belaí Pastry Shop in Carabanchel (Salvador Allende, 34A).
“They don't have any secrets. It is puff pastry, the chocolate coating that everyone wants to give them and soak them more or less in syrup”, Gema explains to me spontaneously, who has also detected a greater taste nowadays for the most soaked puff pastry. And she knows about trends for a while, because it is not the first time that she has been asked for a fun board of colored donuts to replace the hackneyed wedding cake at a wedding.
More cautious, however, is the pastry chef when she tells us about the syrup recipe, which is nothing more than "water, sugar and the professional secret of each one". One that, again, they have not wanted to reveal to us, but that we will keep in the form of sensations forever in our memory.