Though some Mexican mercados have stalls specializing in sweets, more typically confections in the mercado area are sold from sidewalk vendors. Maybe a little table will be set up at a street corner, or perhaps a boy will be circulating with a tray of goodies strapped around his neck. As with tamales and breads, many sweets are made in only a small region, so when you enter the mercado area of a city new to you, be sure to be on the lookout for local specialties.

To give you an idea of how diverse the Mexican sweet-scene is, here's a list just of confections spotted in and around various mercado areas:

abuelos: in Nuevo León, candy made of unrefined brown sugar and nuts
acitrón: sugar-coated biznaga cactus (Mamallaria spp.)
alegría: sweet of ancient lineage made from amaranth seeds toasted until they pop; sold in plastic bags as shown at he right
alfajor: confection of honey and a variety of fruits and nuts, particularly coconut, peanuts, almonds, raisins, dates, prunes, and pine seed; the various alfajor recipes are known by their own names, such as mosaicos, barras, and volcanes
alfeñique: sugar paste; during the Fiesta de los Fieles Difuntos (during our Halloween), often made into shapes of coffins, skulls, crosses, and other figures alluding to death
ante: in Nayarit, egg bread and cream sprinkled with raisins and ornamented with tiny paper flags of many colors
ate: candied fruit; often ate is used as a suffix on a fruit's name, so that a mangate is a mango ate, and a guayabate is a guava ate; in some places, ates are called cajetas
batarete: in Sonora, a thick paste made of toasted ground corn, unrefined brown sugar, and spices
batido: in north-central Mexico, candy made with unrefined brown sugar, peanuts, and sesame or squash seed
biznaga: candied cactus of the genus Mammillaria
budín: pudding
buñuelo: a sweet bun with many variations; in northern Mexico typically of wheat flour and orange juice, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; about two inches in diameter
burrito: brittle candy made of toasted corn and boiled syrup
cabellos de ángel: sweet made from the filamentous pulp of the chilacayote squash
cajeta: a desert, often a gelatin, traditionally congealed in a round box four or five inches across, made of thin wood slivers; there are cajetas de leche (based on milk), cajetas de membrillo (quince), cajetas de guayaba (guava), and many others; in some places cajetas are called ates

calaverita: special for the Fiesta de los Fieles Difuntos festival, coinciding with our Halloween; sugary pastry in the shape of a skull (shown at the right), often bearing the name of a dead person being remembered
calabazate: candied pumpkin
camote: the word camote means sweet potato; when a sweet is being referred to, it's a candied sweet-potato cut into bars and wrapped in paper (see photo half a page lower, a comote from Puebla. Note how it is encrusted with a sugar coating.)
canario: in Oaxaca, a tamale made with rice flour, butter and egg, stuffed with egg and sweet condensed milk
canelón: cinnamon candy
capirotada: especially during Lent, a white- bread pudding with various combinations of ingredients, such as cheese, tomato, peanuts, raisins, and biznaga cactus, all covered with syrup
caramelo: caramel
cemita: a bread prepared in diverse ways; in Zacatecas it contains dried fruits, coconut or nuts, and is sprinkled with sugar
charamusca: melted, twisted brown or white sugar, usually with peanuts or coconut
chongo: bread fried in butter and cooked in heavy syrup, often topped with cheese
cocada: dessert composed of coconut, egg, and sugar, sometimes also milk, pineapple, jícama, or even wine
condoche: gordita made with sweet corn mixed with cinnamon, milk, sugar, and vanilla
conserva: jam or conserve, typically made with fruit
coyota: in Sonora, wheat tortillas sweetened with brown sugar
dulce: sweet, or candy
dulce de coyol: a sweet made from the coyol palm, Acrocomia mexicana
empanada: a wheat-flour tortilla folded over almost any ingredient, then fried in oil; a typical sweet empanada is one containing nuts and unrefined brown sugar
encaladilla: an empanada containing sweet coconut
flan: custard
fruta cubierta: "crystallized fruit" -- a fruit or some other edible plant part, often a fig, orange, lemon, or pumpkin, coated with syrup
galletas dulces: cookies
gaznate: in Oaxaca, a cylindrical sweet filled with meringue
gloria: in Coahuila and Nuevo León, a nut sweet
helado: ice cream
jalea: jelly
jamoncillo: finely ground nuts or seeds, especially pumpkin, pine-nuts, or peanuts, prepared with milk and sugar
macarrón: macaroon, shown at the right, typically made of sugar, egg whites, coconut, and ground almonds
mamón: a bland, spongy bread of corn starch, egg, sugar, and cinnamon
marquesote: caramel; also a cake made of finely ground rice flour or cornmeal, sugar, and eggs, baked and usually cut into rhomboids
memelita: in southern Pacific region, simple sweets based on cornmeal
merengue: meringue
mermelada: marmalade
mondongo: fruit dish, often with mango, papaya, and soursop
mostachón: a kind of macarrón, often with nuts
muégano: in Puebla, the word for nuégado, or nougat
nacatamal dulce: in Michoacán and Guerrero, a tamale wrapped in corn shucks or banana leaves, containing candied citron and raisins
nieve: sherbet
nuégado: nougat -- candy made with almonds or other nuts stirred into a sugar paste
oreja de mico: in Tabasco, a wild papaya fruit -- much smaller than regular papayas in markets -- prepared with brown sugar
palanqueta: a crisp candy based on brown-sugar syrup and/or refined sugar, toasted corn, and nuts (especially almonds, peanuts, and walnuts); the ones shown at the right are of cacahuate, or peanuts
pan dulce: sweet rolls
panetela: dry sweetbread with egg, almonds, and spices
papín: in Tabasco, a kind of custard
pastel: cake
pasteles: pastries
pay: pie
pegoste: apple marmalade typical of upland Jalisco
pepitoría: like a palanqueta, but instead of nuts, seeds are used, especially of squash and sesame
pilón or
piloncillo: chunks of unrefined brown sugar, often sold wrapped in corn husks
pipián: in Tabasco, a kind of custard
ponteduro: in Yucatán, sugar paste cut into cylinders
queso de tuna: candy made from prickly pear cactus, sometimes prepared with nuts
rosca or
rosquita: a ring-shaped cake
tamales dulces: like regular tamales steamed in corn shucks, but containing sweet ingredients such as pineapple
ticuta: In Oaxaca, a cloverleaf-shaped cracker with coconut and cinnamon, sprinkled with red sugar
torreja: in Oaxaca, slice of bread topped with egg and covered with honey
totopo: In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a variety of the 10-to-14-inch-wide corn tortilla made of masa and containing ground fruit and sweetener
trompada: melted, twisted brown sugar with peanuts or coconut
turcos: in Nuevo León, sweetbreads stuffed with dried meat
turrón: nougat -- a candy made with almonds or other nuts, stirred into a sugar paste
turulete: in Tabasco, at Christmas and New Year, made of pinole, and unrefined brown sugar, and typically eaten at coffee time; different recipes in other states
xato: in Oaxaca, a triangular cracker made of cornmeal and unrefined brown sugar
yururichústata: in Michoacán, a gordita prepared with unrefined brown sugar