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Traditional craft of Mallorca

Confiters and pastissers (confectioners)

At a glance

The confectioner made confits, candied fruit and sugar candies; the pastisser, cakes and pastries. In Mallorca, both crafts rely on almonds, sugar, angel…

Crafts
Traditional craft of Mallorca
Artisans in the register
58 · Palma, Inca, Campos, Manacor, Marratxí
Words
carquinyol / carquinyoli, confit, confiter / confitera, confitera, crespell, robiol

What it is and technique

The confectioner made confits, candied fruit and sugar candies; the pastisser, cakes and pastries. In Mallorca, both crafts rely on almonds, sugar, angel hair and ensaïmada dough.

Process step by step

1. Confit: cook fruit or cover almonds with syrup in successive layers (confits).

2. Graze doughs (carquinyols, robiols, crespells).

3. Cook the carquinyols twice so that they are dry.

4. Emmotllar in molds or by hand.

Forms and objects

  • Wedding and baptism confections; candied fruit.
  • Carquinyols: flour, egg, sugar and almond biscuits, cooked and very toasted.
  • Robiols (filled with brossat, jam or cream), crespells, gató d'ametla, ensaïmada .
  • Confiter is also the glass or silver jar for confits (doc. 1408).

Vocabulary

  • confiter / confitera: someone who makes or sells confits.
  • confit: almond or seed coated with sugar.
  • confitera: in Mallorca, imaginary tree that gives confits ("sa florida confitera, sa gelada la'm matà", popular song).
  • carquinyol / carquinyoli: dry almond sponge cake.
  • «Més sec que un carquinyoli»: very thin or very dry.
  • robiol: sweet dumpling.
  • crespell: sweet pastry with a wavy edge.

Geography

  • Palma (historical sweet shops around Plaça del Mercat) and village pastry shops.

Short story

  • 1697: documented activity of Can Frasquet (carrer d'Orfila, Palma), a confectionery shop owned by the Casasayas family for more than a century; converted into a restaurant (2015).
  • No data from a col·legi of confectioners in Mallorca in the sources consulted (to be verified).

State

Alive. Register of artisans (consultation 10/13/2026): 60 pastisser, 5 confiter, 6 neuler, 4 torroner, 8 bunyoler and 5 galleter in Mallorca.

Why is it design

  • Forms coded by holiday (baptism confits, Easter robiols).
  • Product of local ingredients (almond) with territorial identity.
  • The container (glass or silver confectioner) as an object of domestic design.

For the project

  • Contemporary packaging for Mallorcan wedding confits.
  • Recipe book-object of calendar sweets with pastisseries from the emblematic catalogue.

Frequently asked questions

What is Confiters and pastissers (confectioners)?

The confectioner made confits, candied fruit and sugar candies; the pastisser, cakes and pastries. In Mallorca, both crafts rely on almonds, sugar, angel…

Who practises Confiters and pastissers (confectioners) in Mallorca today?

The Balearic Islands Crafts Register lists 58 artisans linked to this craft, in Palma, Inca, Campos, Manacor, Marratxí.

What are the traditional words for Confiters and pastissers (confectioners)?

Some words: carquinyol / carquinyoli, confit, confiter / confitera, confitera, crespell, robiol, «Més sec que un carquinyoli».

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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