Madrid Fusión Pastry: Exploring the Limits of the Sweet World

Sweet or savory? Can sweet flavors be served at the beginning of a menu, or must they inevitably come at the end? Can savory elements belong in desserts? The evolution of pastry in Spain has led to the growth and expansion of the MF Pastry micro-congress within Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España.

Fernando Sáenz and Angelines González, the couple that explore the possibilities of frozen creations from their workshop Grate and their store DellaSera (Logroño, La Rioja), kicked off the event on Monday with a presentation of their appetizers. Sáenz and González challenge the notion of frozen treats as synonymous with sweetness, offering small bites as a prelude to a meal where they stand as flavor protagonists—unlike frozen dressings, which serve as complements to dishes.

Among Sáenz's creations: frozen cream of poultry broth with reduced wine, a frozen appetizer made from olive skin, and an artichoke and local Pedroso walnut frozen cocktail. These redefine the traditional concept of ice cream as a dessert.

Other pastry chefs at MF Pastry also blurred the increasingly faint lines between sweet and savory. One example is Jairo Vincelle, from the pastry shop bearing his name in Jam (Huesca, Aragón). Vincelle incorporates local "Bunker" blue cheese from sheep milk from O 'Xortical producer and Aragón truffle into a butter cookie, creating a gourmet savory snack.

In the multipurpose space of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España, this new pastry approach—less tied to sweetness—was further explored. Carlos Fernandes, a pastry chef and professor at Le Cordon Bleu Madrid, presented the possibilities of plant-based pastry with a dessert that included a black olive crumble in a mango gel and cream-based recipe. "This type of plant-based pastry avoids ingredients of animal origin, such as butter or eggs."

On the same stage, the Torres brothers (holders of three Michelin stars for their Barcelona restaurant) showcased some of their menu’s signature desserts, including a sorbet made from green bay leaf, Elche orange, beetroot, and Aragón black olive. They also highlighted their work with mucilage, the gelatinous substance surrounding cocoa beans, which they incorporate into a dessert featuring unconventional elements such as red miso.

Great Names, Great Products

MF Pastry has proven that it is no longer a secondary stage, given the caliber of chefs who participate. Lluc Crusellas, the Catalan pastry chef who won the World Chocolate Masters—the "Oscars" of chocolate making—presented a documentary about his achievement, which involved constructing a giant chocolate elephant.

Other major names in the pastry world also made an appearance, including Paco Torreblanca, who advocated for the importance of traditional pastry flavors. On the more avant-garde side, Ángel León (three Michelin stars, Aponiente, El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia) introduced highly innovative nougats, such as Moroccan lemon or anise cake varieties.

The MF Pastry space also paid tribute to Spanish honey, highlighting it as the best natural sweetener while showcasing its diverse culinary applications. Chef Carlos Gumiel of Biosfera (Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha) dedicated his presentation to honey from La Alcarria, a PDO-protected regional specialty.

Desserts as Perfumes

MF Pastry ended on a high note with a presentation by Jordi Roca, the pastry chef of El Celler de Can Roca (three Michelin stars, Girona, Catalonia). Roca explained that "much of flavor comes from aroma, from what we perceive retronasally." He introduced three desserts inspired by perfumes, incorporating ingredients like bergamot—"a component more commonly used in perfumery than in gastronomy." He also explored the reverse process: how he has managed to translate his pastry expertise into irresistibly sweet fragrances. The air was thick with creativity.