What the word that means little cake in Spanish?

Answer 1

Pastilini

Answer 2

Like in English where the same word can mean different things in different English Speaking countries (e.g. A "biscuit" to an Englishman is a "Cookie" to an American. A "biscuit" to an American is a "scone" to an Englishman) the translation depends on where in the Spanish-speaking world one is.

Bizcocho sm (Means cake throughout the Spanish-Speaking World)

Pastel sm (Means cake in some areas but can mean many other types of pastry)

Adding the suffix -ito, ita or illo, illa to a noun usually makes that thing diminutive, small or cute.

Bizcochito or Pastelillo means "little cake" DEPENDING ON WHERE ONE IS IN THE SPANISH SPEAKING WORLD.

Bizcocho is "cake" through out the Spanish Speaking world. It is the "safest" choice when one does not know the local dialect. Bizcocho pequeño will be understood as "small cake" anywhere. However "bizcochito" in some parts of Mexico and the southwest United States means "cookies" (fluffy cookies).

Quick internet searches looking for recetas de bizcocho (Cake recepies) followed by country names found different types of what most would call a cake in English in Mexico, the Caribbean, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, and Spain.

The same searches for Pastel or pastelillo returned recepies for cakes, pies containing anything from meats to fruit to cheese, pop-overs, hot-pockets, turnovers, (generally fried) and all sorts of pastries and the unique Puerto Rican Pastel which is more of a Plantain Tamale. So the meaning of this word can be wildly different depending on the country or area one is searching. So this word should only be used only if the person is familiar with the local form of speech.

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Though Pastelillo CAN mean little cake, in most areas around the Caribbean many other areas in the Spanish speaking world, pastelilllo means something completely different than "cake". Pastelillos would be more like "turnovers, fritters or small pies. The pies can have anything in them from meats to fruit and cheese. Pastel in Puerto Rico means something completely different than "cake" especially during the Christmas season. Patelles in Puerto Rico are a main course made from plantain, beef, pork, olives and other fillings wrapped up and tied in a plantain leaf and boiled.

But "bizcocho" in some other countries are small pieces of sweet bread, not exactly "little cakes". A "small pie" in these areas would be a "tartina", a pie is a "tarta" a "pastel" is a cake like the one you eat in parties in some areas of the Spanish speaking world.In these areas of the Spanish Speaking world if one would be offered "bizcocho", they would imagine a small bread.

NOTE: Bizcochito is commonly misspelled with an "s" instead of a "z". Many recipes are listed with the wrong spelling especially when referring to New Mexico and northern Mexico cookie recipes. This form of spelling is not accepted as proper Spanish, and not found in official Spanish-language dictionaries except when referenced as a vernacular spelling deviation. Take into account that Mexican Spanish is a group of different Spanish varieties. It's not the same sort of Spanish spoken in the center, the north or the coast of Mexico. This also applies to the rest of the Spanish-Speaking world where influences from other cultures and languages has changed the meaning and common spelling of Spanish words depending on the region.