Mantecadas de Astorga

Mantecadas de Astorga are small, individually baked butter sponge cakes produced and packaged within four named municipalities in the province of León. The specification requires dairy butter and lard as the fat component, distinguishing them from other Spanish sponge cakes made with oils, and mandates baking in open, square-shaped kraft paper cases until the mixture overflows to form the characteristic lágrima de la mantecada.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI under file number PGI-ES-0311, with EU protection granted on 23 April 2004, Mantecadas de Astorga are produced and packaged exclusively in the municipalities of Astorga, Brazuelo, San Justo de la Vega and Valderrey, all within the province of León. The specification defines the basic ingredients as all-purpose wheat flour, hen's eggs, dairy butter, lard and sugar, with precise proportions stated for each. The wheat flour must have a strength of between 100 and 150 ergs and a P/L ratio of between 0,28 and 0,60. After baking, each mantecada in its case must weigh between 25 g and 35 g. The physico-chemical requirements include a moisture content of at least 13 % and not more than 19 %, fat of at least 20 % and no more than 27 %, proteins of at least 6 %, carbohydrates (glucose) of at least 45 %, ash of no more than 1,70 %, and water activity of at least 0,7 and no more than 0,9. All production steps, from aerating the fat through to baking, must take place within the defined geographical area. Packaging must occur at the same registered plant where production takes place. Every package dispatched for consumption must bear a numbered certification label incorporating the EU PGI symbol, the name Mantecadas de Astorga, and the PGI's own logo; labels must be affixed so that they cannot be reused. The Consejo Regulador de la IGP Mantecadas de Astorga is the applicant producer group.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 28, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 23 April 2004 under file number PGI-ES-0311, with eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013469.
• Production and packaging are confined to four named municipalities in the province of León: Astorga, Brazuelo, San Justo de la Vega and Valderrey.
• Each mantecada in its case must weigh between 25 g and 35 g after baking; fat content must be at least 20 % and no more than 27 %.
• Every package must carry a numbered certification label bearing the EU PGI symbol and the PGI's own logo, affixed so that it cannot be reused.

Tasting notes

Castilian-Leonese butter cake IGP from Astorga (León), distinctive small individual cake in paper liner. Soft buttery texture, sweet-vanilla flavor.

HoReCa use

Tea/coffee service; breakfast pastry; petit-four.

Packaging

• retail-pack-12-pieces
• retail-pack-24-pieces
• gift-tin-300g