Lemon Layer cake with lemon curd buttercream, Mama ía blog

December 24, 2018

Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Buttercream and Ginger cookies, a Christmassy Birthday Cake

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets celebration, Christmas, cumpleaños, fiesta, Navidad, tarta, tarta de limón

Another birthday, yay! I’ve learned to embrace them, feeling blessed to be counting one more (thank you, Byron!). Because what’s better than adding one more year of experience to your biography? Spending one more year with your loved ones? Live life fully no matter what your age? So happy birthday to me, and to everyone who can count one more. To celebrate it, a super special cake: lemon layer cake with lemon curd buttercream and ginger cookies.

Lemon layer cake with lemon curd buttercream, Mama ia blog

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October 26, 2018

Flan Caramel, A Classic

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets custard, Franke Park bike trails, mountain biking, postre tradicional, Spanish cuisine

Flan, or flan caramel, is one of those desserts I, and everyone my age, grew up with. Actually, it could be the dessert we grew up with. Every mom, every household, would make it, with just slight variations in the recipe. And not only at home, but every restaurant menu would have it, together with peach or pineapple “en almíbar”, in syrup, and different flavors of ice cream, most often chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. When I say this, I don’t mean that flan is an “old” dessert, made long ago, and that has been replaced by others in the 21st-century. Not at all! In fact, flan is a classic that never goes out of style, and shares restaurant menus with many other newer, fancy desserts.

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Blackberry lavender ice cream, Mama ía blog

September 25, 2018

Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream, Saying Farewell to Summer

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets Brihuega, campos de lavanda, comunidad valenciana, helado de lavanda, helado de moras, ice cream bar, lavanda, lavender fields in Spain, Onteniente, polos mora, summer, Valencia, verano

Lavender fields in Brihuega, Spain

I am drawn to lavender. If I have to choose between scents, that will be the one I choose, whether it be hand soap or dish soap, laundry detergent or air freshener, lavender is my scent. I don’t know why, I think it is its freshness, but it could be its color, too (you just have to have a look at my closet!). But most of all, (more…)

September 12, 2018

Leche Merengada Granita —Granizado de Leche Merengada

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Drinks Alcocebre, Alcossebre, granizado, helado, ice cream, leche merengada, summer

It has been raining for a few days, the temperatures have dropped, and I feel under the weather, so what better time to post a recipe for ice cream than now, ha ha! When I was preparing this recipe for the blog, a few days ago, the temperatures were in the 90’s Fahrenheit, 30’s Celsius. The landscape workers that were trimming our bushes and pulling out all my lavender (sniff) had to leave early because the heat was unbearable. I was happily making my husband’s favorite ice cream, in granita form, leche merengada (loosely translated to whipped cinnamon milk granita), and we still managed to enjoy it during those high temperatures.

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August 27, 2018

Carrot Cake, for Two Special Celebrations

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets birthday, carrot cake, celebration, cream cheese frosting, tarta, tarta de zanahoria

It has been a while. I purposely intended to take a little break, enjoy the events that were happening in my life at a leisurely pace, then come back with new recipes. But the break kept getting longer, and longer, and even though I kept up with Instagram posts, the blog, and the recipes, (more…)

June 14, 2018

Tarta de Santiago, and El Camino

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel almond cake, Camino de Santiago, gluten free, pilgrimage, Santiago de Compostela, tarta de almendras, Way of Saint James

The origin of tarta de Santiago, or rather, why the famous Spanish almond tart is named after the apostle Saint James, patron saint of Spain, is unknown. But for centuries, the cake has been adorned with the cross of the knights of Saint James in confectioners sugar, and visitors to the city of Santiago de Compostela, where the apostle is believed to be buried, buy it as a souvenir of their visit to the pilgrims’ city, or arrival through the Camino de Santiago, the Way of Saint James.

Monte do Gozo, where pilgrims get the first view of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Cross of the Knight of Saint James, Mama ía blog

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Blood orange puff pastry tart, Mama ía blog

April 25, 2018

Blood Orange Puff Pastry Tart, like it was

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets blood oranges, breakfast, El Taroncheral, hojaldre, naranja sanguina, oranges, tarta, teatime

I’m finding it very hard these days not to long for what was. And this blood orange puff pastry tart was. It was (more…)

Blueberry and Meyer Lemon Cake, Mama ía blog

April 6, 2018

Blueberry and Meyer Lemon Cake —the 100th post!

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets 100th post, arándanos, cake, celebration, Meyer lemon, milestone

And with this one, I reached 100 posts. 100 recipes! I find it hard to believe, it has been such a joy to write all these posts and recipes, cooking and baking and enjoying every dish. A cake was in order for such milestone, and I chose this Blueberry and Meyer Lemon Cake.

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March 14, 2018

Classic Madeleines, and a Day for Women (videorecipe)

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets equal rights, equality, french country table, madalenas, magdalenas, videoreceta, videorecipe, women, women's rights

Madalenas caseras, classic madeleines, are very popular in Spain, and even though they might look like muffins, they have one major difference, they use olive oil instead of butter. And here I am, watching the news while sipping an espresso and having a madalena, a madeleine, savoring the sweet and lemony treat, and thinking about what to write about for this week’s post, when it suddenly hits me. Sometimes I have a preconceived subject I want to write about, but for the most part, my post is usually about “that thing that won’t leave my mind”. And today, that thing is women.

It wasn’t until March 9, 2018 that I came to realize what March 8 represented. For years I felt International Women’s Day was a celebration (more…)

February 8, 2018

Banana Nut Bundt, and a Christmas Family Reunion

Natacha Sanz Caballero Breads, Desserts and Sweets banana, bizcocho de plátano, Christmas, family reunion, merienda, plátano, Spanish Christmas, tea time

I know what my children will say when they see this post: banana nut bread (in any of its forms, like the banana nut bundt recipe I’m sharing today) is not Spanish. I’ll have to remind them then that this blog includes the recipes that I make at home, most of which are Spanish, but some of which are not. If I make it often enough and is part of my repertoire, chances are, it’ll make it to Mama Ía blog. I’ve been living in North America for over two decades, after all!

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