Cakes Espanol!

We’ve just returned from a relaxing holiday in Mallorca. It was lovely to be just the four of us as we haven’t been away without friends or family for years. It was absolutely boiling and we returned to a freezing, wet London, but I have to say I was really happy to be home.

This was the first time that we had gone all-inclusive and I have to say that the food was pretty good. Tim and I set out with really good intentions. ‘We won’t drink too much, we won’t stuff our faces at every meal and we will be walking all over the place and be in the pool loads so we could make it quite a healthy break.’

That lasted 2 days!

You see the problem was that there were so many amazing desserts on offer (yes there was fresh fruit, but that just isn’t enough for me!) and when you consider that I eat continuously all day everyday at home I was getting pretty ratty. We worked it out that I wasn’t eating enough. No snacking between meals really isn’t for me! So, I went to check out the snacks on offer and there were these really cute, individually wrapped cakes and biscuits (I really wish I had taken a snap of them to show you) There were mini donuts – which Beau loved, swiss roll type cakes with the bottom dipped in chocolate which Darcey loved and made a lot of mess with in all that heat and then the pièce de résistance, puff pastry layered square cakes which were literally dripping in syrup. They were like Baklava.  I just couldn’t leave them alone! I have to say that Tim was really good and resisted all of them. He knows that once you start you can’t stop so he just didn’t start. Such will power!

So at every lunch and dinner there was a whole host of choices on offer -jelly, mouse, ice cream, dried fruit and then the cakes. Each meal had two cakes. We tried them all! Some we recognised, some we didn’t. The cream fillings were like that fake cream you get in cheap cakes and it was a bit sweet for us but the layers of sponges were incredibly light (and pink!)

One dessert that I couldn’t leave alone was the rice pudding. It was really deeelish. Lots of people were saying that they couldn’t face cold rice pudding but I loved it. It had cinnamon on the top and I had to limit myself to just one small spoonful each time. The apple pie was a bit too much pie and too little apple for me, but where they really excelled was the pastries.

The Mallorcan delicacy of the Ensaïmada de Mallorca. It tastes like a combination of croissant and brioche, but lighter. It’s baked in a large circle and then it cut up into pieces. You can have it plain, with a creme filling which was like a custard, chocolate filling or an almond centre. They all tasted great – every last one!

So now we are back and it’s nearly time to go back to school. I think a new fitness regime is in order…… or maybe just some more baking Mallorcan style!

enjoy!