Sweet specialities of the Haute-Vienne

There are many and almost every town has its speciality:

• Saint-Léonard de Noblat massepains: small oval biscuits made from marzipan since the 19th century,
• Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche cakes,
• Eymoutiers pelauds: small biscuits made with ground almonds, hazelnuts and chocolate
• Dorat macaroons,
• Saint-Junien Aréna and Cyrano,
• Rochechouart and Saint-Junien canoles: a delicious twisted shortbread made of two interlaced pastes,
• Châlus crackers,
• Eymoutiers cènes sold on Palm Sunday,
• the vacherie limousine, a controlled-origin sweet in the shape of a cow. Created by the Limousin Confectioners Association, it’s made from dark, milk or white chocolate filled with praline and raspberries,
• the burgou: a sweet chestnut artisanal cake made by craft confectioners. It owes its name to a famous bandit who ravaged the region in the 17th century,
• the diamant: a small, saffron-flavoured shortbread.

But also: the “Cornue”. And what is it?

It's a brioche in the form of a Y that’s eaten on Palm Sunday. This speciality, originally pagan, is now anchored in religious tradition. It's made in the Limousin for Palm Sunday and is eaten for two weeks after Easter.

The flognarde

The most famous desert in the most popular remains cherry clafoutis. It is called a flognarde when it's made with other fruit (mainly apple or pear).

Jams

This tree-covered region is also one of fruit as there are many orchards in the Haute-Vienne. Other than apples, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, bilberries and gooseberries also decorate the département’s trees and bushes and are used in numerous preparations that delight gourmets.