Traditional cakes and sweets

Sweet treats

Local gastronomy is not limited to savoury dishes. We also have delicious, sweet specialities to be served as desserts or just as a sweet treat. You can find all these specialities in shops in Lourdes or at the daily market.

Spit cake

This cake was brought back from the Balkans by farmers conscripted into Napoleon’s armies in the early 19th century. It soon swept the countryside and became an essential feature of our festivities and weddings.
The cake is made from pancake batter, enriched by eggs, butter and sugar. It is baked for several hours on a cone which is 12 to 20 cm at the base and 30 to 60 cm long. The cone is placed on a spit above the glowing embers in the fire.

Sweets and confectionery

Cailloux du Gave and Malespine Pastilles

Cailloux du Gave (“River Gave Pebbles”) are sugar-coated, fruit-flavoured sweets.

The sweets from the Malespine pastille plant are made with water from the Grotto of Lourdes, icing sugar and natural flavouring, mint, lemon or aniseed.

Pyrenean cake

Tourte des Pyrénées aux Halles de Lourdes

Tourte des Pyrenees

La tourte des Pyrénées fait partie de notre patrimoine gastronomique, on la trouve aussi bien nature qu'aux myrtilles, souvent recouverte de sucre glace comme nos montagnes,...

Honey

Our mountains are an ideal place to make honey. There are plenty of beekeepers in the region. Wildflower honey, mountain honey, sweet-chestnut honey, acacia honey, etc. are always a hit with children and adults. The castle close to Lourdes makes its own honey. So don’t hesitate to come and taste Lourdes honey.

Shops and sweetmakers