If you follow Mama Ía blog you may have noticed I’ve been away from this space for a while, but this post hopefully explains why. It’s a good reason, but to make up for my absence, I’ll treat you to a really sweet, beautiful recipe: blackberry tiramisu.
And I know, too, that this is not a Spanish dessert. But I was looking for a beautiful dessert, not only sweet and tasty but pleasing to the eyes, and this one checked all the boxes—and my current taste buds.
As you probably know —because I’ve posted about it before and it shows in my blog—, I have a second gig (or is that the first?) as a writer. Sure, I write for this blog, but (more…)
A layover of a few hours in Madrid can be very well invested, particularly if, as it happened to me, it was in April and not in June. News has it the wait time for passport control at Madrid airport this summer will not allow me to do this again. Or… it will have to be a shorter, but still sweet visit —just like the lemon tart with strawberry cream frosting (or more specifically, the mini tarts) that accompany this post: small and sweet.
I have been wanting to visit the Naval Museum in Madrid for a long time, and more so following the investigation that led me to write my novel Yo fui el primero, about the first circumnavigation of the world completed by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano, and (more…)
I can’t help it, but every time I have toast with bitter orange marmalade, or Seville orange marmalade, as the jar may be labeled, I think of my dad.
Bitter orange marmalade was my dad‘s, and also my, favorite marmalade.
For years, during middle school and high school, our dining room table at breakfast time would become not only the family table where everyone gathered to convene before going on our way to school or to work, but also (more…)
When thinking of what special treat I’d make for Valentine’s Day I knew I had to find something with coffee. Dave has a sweet tooth AND he loves coffee. So mocha, the combination of chocolate and coffee, was a good option.
I didn’t know, however, exactly what to make or how to make it, and I ended up going through recipe books and doing Google searches. Finally, taking a bit from here and a bit from there and then adding my own ideas, I ended up with this cake: mocha cake with espresso cream cheese frosting.
I have to say I don’t like calling myself a recipe developer. I am not one, and I don’t intend to be one. I am not a professionally trained cook, so I do not (more…)
After a few years of very good intentions, finally 2022 sees the recipe for roscón de Reyes, Kings cake, on the blog. Not that I haven’t been making it! But I am not a great planner of the recipes that I will post on Mama Ía blog and the Christmas hustle and bustle always caught up with me.
Kings Melchior, Gaspar and Baltazar at the January 5 Three Kings Parade in Alcoy (Alicante, Spain)
Nativity scene at the Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago
That always seems to be the case. I do have some method and loose plan of what I will post on the blog. However, more often than not, I will cook or bake something that (more…)
Don’t we all crave the flavors of our childhood at Christmas time, the treats that bring us back to our younger selves, the sounds of the songs sung and the games played with siblings and cousins in crowded, noisy and happy homes? Okay, I’m describing my own memories, but I’m sure each of us has our own, those which bring a smile to our faces and make us long for those care and stress-free days. Marzipan pastries or panellets are a treat that brings me back to the Christmases of my childhood.
Handel’s Messiah by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic at gorgeous First Wayne Street United Methodist Church, a Christmas tradition
The recipe I’m sharing today is that of a traditional Spanish sweet, more typical of All Saints Day than of Christmas, depending on what region of Spain we’re talking about. In Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic islands these almond treatsare called panellets, and are eaten and sold at the pastry shops mostly on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and 2nd. In other regions of Spain they are called simply mazapanes, marzipans, and even though they are made and sold throughout the year, Christmas is where you’ll find them more often at the pastry shops. The most famous ones are from obrador Santo Tomé in Toledo, an institution founded in 1856. (more…)
You’ve probably heard of Basque cheesecake, San Sebastián cheesecake, or cheseecake from La Viña restaurant. I’m sharing that recipe today, which is not mine, but Santiago Rivera’s, chef at La Viña resturant in San Sebastián.
I thought this cheesecake was perfect to accompany Part 6 (and last) of the construction of our vegetable garden last year. My aunt Isa loves gardening, and she has a green thumb —her garden is always colorful and exuberant— and gardening reminds me of her.
I’ve mentioned my aunt Isa on this blog before. My aunt (more…)
With the end of the season of Lent and the beginning of that of Easter, I bring you a Spanish treat typical of this season, pestiños. Don’t ask me to translate it, because I would have a hard time doing it. You’ll have to call it by its original name, and I will help you pronounce it: pehs-teen-yohs.
Holy Week processions in Sevilla. Holy Wednesday, Hermandad del Baratillo – Brotherhood of Baratillo
The season calls for Lent and Easter meals, with meatless, savory ones enjoyed on Fridays and sweet ones (many of them) enjoyed on Easter, when traditionally lenten promises and (more…)
This gingerbread layer cake was my birthday cake, but it turned out so festive and beautiful (and delicious!) that I think it will make for a wonderful end of your Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas day brunch or lunch.
The molasses in the gingerbread layer cake give it a very characteristic flavor, and you could substitute the molasses with dark corn syrup for a smoother flavor. The addition of the Guinness beer is surprising, and perfect. And then, the nutmeg in (more…)
It happens every year: Summer dwindles away and I hold onto it for dear life. It’s easy to think that way, when I look through my window and the sun is shining, and I go outside and sit on the patio and I don’t even need a light jacket. I scroll down through Instagram and all the beautiful, talented people I follow are praising the coming of fall and embracing it with open arms.
I, in the other hand, hope for the Indian summer, the “veranillo de San Miguel”,as we call it in Spain. And for (more…)