Robiols
Robiols, also spelled rubiols, are small half-moon Mallorcan pastries filled with cottage cheese, jam, or cabell d'àngel and dusted with sugar, traditionally made for Easter.
Robiols, also spelled rubiols, are small half-moon pastries that have long been part of Mallorcan Easter cooking. A circle of short, lightly sweet dough is filled with something rich, most traditionally fresh cottage cheese known locally as brossat or requesón, though jam and cabell d'àngel, a pumpkin-and-syrup filling used across many Spanish sweets, are just as common, then folded over and crimped shut before baking. Once out of the oven they're dusted generously with sugar while still warm. Robiols are traditionally made in the run-up to Easter and eaten through the days of Pascua, often served after a Holy Week meal alongside their firmer, unfilled cousin, crespells, cut from the same dough. Together the two pastries turn Mallorcan bakery windows into a seasonal marker each spring, though today both are easy to find well beyond Easter week too.
How it's served
Eaten as a dessert or afternoon sweet, traditionally around Easter and typically after a Holy Week meal, often alongside crespells. Bakeries across Mallorca bake them fresh in the weeks before Pascua, though many now sell them for much of the year.
Regional variation
Fillings vary by household and bakery: fresh brossat (cottage cheese), jam, and cabell d'àngel are the most traditional, with chocolate or pastry cream versions also common today. Some bakeries make a savory version too, though the sugar-dusted sweet version is the one most associated with Easter.
- Origin
- Mallorca
- Etymology
- The name's resemblance to raviolis has led some to suggest a shared root, and other accounts point to older Sephardic pastries with a similar folded shape, but no single etymology is firmly established.
- Also called
- rubiols
Frequently asked
What is inside a robiol?
Traditional fillings include fresh cottage cheese (brossat or requesón), jam, or cabell d'àngel, a sweet pumpkin filling used in many Spanish pastries, though chocolate and pastry cream versions are also common today.
When are robiols eaten in Mallorca?
They're traditionally baked in the lead-up to Easter and eaten through the days of Pascua, though bakeries across Mallorca now sell them for much of the year.
What's the difference between robiols and crespells?
Both come from the same traditional Easter dough, but robiols are folded over a filling into a half-moon shape while crespells are cut into shapes, like stars, and baked plain or lightly sugared without filling.
Related terms
- EnsaïmadaSpiral-shaped Mallorcan pastry made with pork lard (saïm), dusted with powdered sugar. Plain or filled with cabello de ángel, cream or chocolate.
- Gató d'ametllaMallorcan almond cake: a dense, gluten-free sponge built almost entirely from ground almonds, lemon zest and eggs. Served with almond ice cream.