It is, after a cake cut or a meringue flower, the most recognizable sweet of the Catalan pastry. Its brown-skinned profile and white filling never fail to appear in the windows of the most traditional candy stores, and rare is the Catalan family that has not ordered it from a bakery on a Sunday for a family meal. The brazo de gitano was already one of the most emblematic desserts of Catalonia, but now the pastry guilds have officially designated it as the country’s emblematic dessert.
This has been done jointly by the Barcelona Pastry Guild, the Girona Pastry Guild, the Lleida Pastry Guild and the Artisan Pastry Guild of the Tarragona Region, who have chosen it to commemorate the fact that this year Catalonia is a World Region of Gastronomy.
Miquel A. Zaguirre, president of the Barcelona Pastry Guild, pointed out that “the handmade gypsy’s arm has been a classic in Catalan homes for several generations and perfectly symbolizes our great pastry heritage”.
What is the origin of the name of the gypsy’s arm?
According to the Pastry Guild, the first references to the gypsy’s arm are found in recipe books and press articles from the 1920s. However, the origin of this cake and its name is probably earlier. According to one of the most popular theories, in the 19th century the gypsy coppersmiths who repaired or sold utensils to the pastry shops of Barcelona received as a gift leftover cuts of sponge cake sheets that were rolled with cream or custard and carried under the arm.
According to historian Marta Manzanares – Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid, specializing in the cultural history of food, women and guilds – although this explanation lacks sufficient historical rigor, we do know that two centuries ago “for the production of confectionery and jams it was essential to work with copper pots and pans, which would explain the link or the need for confectioners to have the boilermakers to repair and polish their utensils. In addition, it was a common practice to reward the services of outside workers not only with money, but also with sweets, especially on holidays.”
Thus, although the origin of the name is difficult to prove scientifically, the link between the caldereros -where it was common to find people from the gypsy community- and the confectioners seems clear, which could explain the name of this dessert.
How is it prepared?
During the naming of the dessert, Lluïsa Estrada, a teacher at the Escuela de Pastelería del Gremio de Barcelona (EPGB), explained the elaboration of the 2025 version of the burnt cream gypsy’s arm proposed by the Gremio de Pastelería de Barcelona: with flour, milk, eggs and sugar, using a fluffier sponge cake sheet, cream filling with the yolk burnt inside and, as a technique, the cream burnt with a shovel. In other words, using the same ingredients and the same method as always, but with an updated image in its presentation.