Xuixo
A Girona speciality: a fried, sugar-crusted pastry cylinder filled with crema catalana — crisp on the outside, custard within.
The xuixo (pronounced 'CHOO-cho') is Girona's own pastry: a length of enriched, yeasted dough rolled around a core of crema catalana, deep-fried and rolled in sugar so the outside crackles while the inside stays soft and custardy. Local legend spins a romantic tale about its invention; whatever the truth, it is now the sweet a Girona breakfast or afternoon coffee is built around.
How it's served
Warm or at room temperature, sugar-crusted, with coffee for breakfast or the afternoon merienda.
- Origin
- Girona, Catalonia
- Etymology
- A Girona name of uncertain origin, pronounced 'CHOO-cho'.
Frequently asked
What is inside a xuixo?
Crema catalana — the Catalan custard — piped into a fried, sugar-coated pastry. Some versions use a lighter pastry cream, but the custard filling is the defining feature.
Where is the xuixo from?
Girona, in north-east Catalonia, where it is the signature local pastry.
Related terms
- Crema catalanaCatalan custard with a crackable burnt-sugar crust, flavoured with cinnamon and lemon. Not a crème brûlée.
- ChurrosSticks of fried dough, ridged and dusted with sugar, eaten dipped into a cup of thick hot chocolate — Spain's classic breakfast and after-hours treat.
- EnsaïmadaSpiral-shaped Mallorcan pastry made with pork lard (saïm), dusted with powdered sugar. Plain or filled with cabello de ángel, cream or chocolate.