Is the palmera de chocolate a typical bun from Madrid? It is not clear, but there are three reasons to associate it with the region: The Association of Pastry Chefs of Madrid (ASEMPAS) includes it as a typical local pastry shop; Morata de Tajuña celebrates the Pastry Fair of the Chocolate Palm Tree it is rare not to find one in any bakery, whether industrial or artisanal.
1. La Duquesita
La Duquesita is one of the oldest (it opened in 1914) and most mythical bakeries in Madrid, and its palmeritas, along with its boxes of chocolates are the star of the house. Here the palmeritas have a very light puff pastry made with butter. To get the crunchy touch before going into the oven, they are finished with sugar. Once cold, they are covered with chocolate, the same chocolate used for the chocolates. A 70% bitter chocolate that matches your puff pastry to perfection.
Large palm tree: 3,95 € per unit.
2, Fernando VI Street (Chueca)
2. Moulin Chocolat
To get a Moulin Chocolat palm tree and make sure there is one, it is advisable to call ahead: they are in such high demand. Chef Ricardo Vélez is in charge of the recipes of this bakery, (also of other sweet institutions such as the Chocolatería San Ginés or the pastry shop of the famous Lhardy restaurant). Here the palm is made with a 70% chocolate glaze, especially creamy with a crunchy base. Everything you would expect from this candy.
Palm tree: 3 € per unit.
Calle de Alcalá, 77 (salamanca neighborhood)
3. Maison Palmiers
Maison Palmiers is a confectionery specialized in palm trees that has been in Madrid since 2021. We could say that Maison Palmiers is to palm trees what Maison Palmiers is to Manolo Bakes to croissants. They have fifteen different types of toppings, because the flaky base with butter is common to all of them. They range from pistachio to mango and freeze-dried passion fruit. Each palm tree lives up to its mission of reinventing the traditional puff pastry palmerita.
Pack of 12: 16,5 €.
Calle de Gravina, 3 (Chueca)
4. Nunos Bakery
All the pastries at Pastelería Nunos are handmade, so their chocolate palm had to be among the best in Madrid. Although it is a bakery known for having roscón de Reyes all year round, its palmera is just the right thickness, crunchy and with a dark chocolate coating.
Palm tree: 2,9 € per unit.
Calle de Narváez, 63 (Retiro)
5. Palmeris Original
Palmeris Original was born in 2020 in Valencia and shares family and bakery with Pastelería Mora, one of the oldest in Valencia and supplier of the Spanish Royal House since 1877. Their palm trees are handcrafted and customizable, although it is already difficult to choose between the fifteen different types of toppings they make. In Madrid they have several points of sale in Gran Vía 31, inside the Hyatt Hotel, and at El Corte Inglés at Goya and Princesa.
Box of 12: 16,99 €
6. Panod
At Panod, one of those artisan bakeries that you have to visit from time to time, they love bakery classics and the butter palm is one of their hallmarks. They are made with only flour, Belgian butter, salt, water and sugar. They make the puff pastry from scratch and cut each palm tree with a knife. This way they achieve the right thickness, neither too thick nor too thin.
Palm tree: 2 € per unit.
Calle de Prim, 1 (Chueca); Avenida de Europa, 23 (Pozuelo); Plaza de la Moraleja, s/n (Alcobendas) and Calle Manuel de Falla, 3 (Majadahonda)
7. One hundred and thirty Stalls/Stands
Cientotreinta Stalls/Stands has an award for best bread in Madrid in 2020, and it’s also a place known for roasting its own coffee, but its chocolate palmeras also deserve the mention. The puff pastry is the key to this palm, and it is enough to split them to see the fineness of its elaboration, although the Valhrona grand cruchocolate only adds to it.
2,75 € the chocolate palm and 2 € without chocolate.
Calle de Ayala, 28 (La Paz market) and Calle de Fernando el Católico, 17 (Chamberí)
8. Estela Puff Pastry
Estela Hojaldre is a bakery specialized in puff pastry from Cantabria -the key to this is in the butter of the area- and that pastry richness can be tasted in the neighborhood of Las Letras in Madrid. Although the most sought after pastries in this bakery are the meringue mille-feuille (a classic that also deserves its prominence), the palm trees had to be good. And indeed they are: the base of this pastry, the puff pastry, is the specialty of the restaurant.
Chocolate palmera: 2 € per unit.
Plaza de Jesús, 5 (Las Letras)