The Canal pastry shop in Barcelona wins the award for the best artisan butter croissant

The Canal pastry shop in Barcelona revalidates the quality of one of its star products: the butter croissant. The establishment, which has sales points on Muntaner street and Calvet street, has been the winner of the XV Best Artisan Butter Croissant in the State 2022 Contest, an award it already won in the 2016 and 2019 editions. The prize once again goes to a pastry shop in the Catalan capital, as last year the winner was Panem, one of the best bakeries in Madrid.

The croissants made by Canal's pastry chef, Toni Vera, have prevailed over those presented by a total of 54 participants. All of them had to deliver the freshly baked croissants to the jury at 8 in the morning, who began to taste them and deliberate from 10:30 am, at the facilities of the Pastry School of the Guild of Barcelona. And what criteria did they use to choose the best croissant of the year? Taste is the vector that gives the highest score, with 40 points. The other aspects valued by the jury are the technical characteristics of the croissant dough, especially the alveolation (15 points) and the puff pastry (15 points). The voting is completed with a third block that rewards the most visual aspect and, specifically, the color (10 points), the shape (10 points) and the final finish (10 points).

Founded in 1970 by Xavier Canal, the Canal pastry shop is currently managed by his nephew, Lluís Estrada, who in recent years has introduced innovation into tradition, combining a commitment to classic pastries and cakes with more contemporary creations. His young pastry chef, Toni Vera, born in Badalona in 1980, entered this world almost by chance, as he initially studied Chemistry. He trained for five years at Forn Bertran Mar and, before joining Canal and becoming a croissant specialist, he also worked at Bubó and at the Comas pastry shop.

In other editions, in addition to Panem, the croissants made by the Brunells, San Croi by Albert Roca, Prat Can Carriel, Vallflorida Xocolaters, Oriol Balaguer and Ochiai pastry shops, among others, have also been awarded as the best butter croissants in Spain.