FC Barcelona and Dragon Ball most popular Easter ‘Mones de Pasqua’
Average spending per family around €35, as bakers expect similar sales numbers as 2024
Catalan bakeries expect to sell around 800,00 'Mones de Pasqua', the traditional Catalan Easter cakes, this year, similar to last year’s prediction.
Easter Monday in Catalonia is the day when godparents buy special cakes for their Godchildren, usually featuring a decorative chocolate figurine on top of the sponge cake.
This year, Lamine Yamal and Aitana Bonmatí from the men’s and women’s FC Barcelona teams are among the most popular themes for the ‘Mones de Pasqua’.
“Barça’s female team is thriving, and have for years, so Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas are in demand,” says the president of the Catalan Bakers’ Guild, Miquel Zaguirre, to Catalan News.
Other popular characters
The athletes face stiff competition from Dragon Ball’s Goku, whose creator, Akira Toriyama, died last year. The Catalan national broadcaster 3Cat has been showing reruns of the series, which has boosted its popularity even further.
Other popular themes this year include Bluey from the animated series and characters from Disney’s Moana and Lilo & Stitch.
Another popular character for this year’s ‘Mones de Pasqua’ is the character Mia the Archeologist.
“Mia is the fruit of a collaboration between the University of Barcelona and the Bakers’ Guild,” explains Zaguirre, adding that “this year is her third year, and the initiative was made to spark scientific curiosity in kids.”
Most popular cakes
Cake-wise, this year’s most popular Mones de Pasqua are the traditional sponge cakes with either candied fruit topping or buttercream and frosting.
“We make buttercream, which has a very characteristic taste, and we also make ‘mones’ with cream and with chocolate truffles,” says Zaguirre, adding that Sacher cakes or the ‘Sara cake,’ which has buttercream and is covered with almonds, are also in demand.
Zaguirre also emphasized that bakers have made efforts to maintain the prices of ‘mones’ from rising, despite the ongoing increase in the cost of raw materials such as sugar and cocoa.
The average family is set to spend around €35 on a ‘mona’ this year, whether it is a chocolate figure or a cake.
“We are very optimistic,” he adds.
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