2010 Patanegra Tapas Competition Winner: "Magdalenas de la Mancha": Honey Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream and Marzipan Bulls

Here it is! I'm just a few weeks late, but I promised a post on the tapas competition for which I won best dessert and best presentation (though they could only give me the prize for best presentation, since I won in two categories...harumph), and I'm finally getting it up. My entry consisted of "Magdalenas de la Mancha": honey cupcakes with almond buttercream and handmade marzipan bulls.

Prom Pancakes

It's hard to believe that last night was my junior prom. It seems like yesterday that I was in middle school vowing that I would never be silly enough to wear an evening gown and let a boy tie a corsage around my wrist. But my mind has certainly changed since then, and this year, being a junior, I attended our school's prom. Afterwards, a bunch of friends slept over. I woke everyone with a delicious chocolate chip pancake breakfast after our approximated four hours of sleep.

"Where the Wild Things Are" Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

My really close friend's birthday was on Friday. Now, this boy loves Reese's cups, to the point where one of our friends just gave him a bag of king-sized packs of the candy for his present and he was overjoyed about it. Another thing he loves is the children's book Where the Wild Things Are, and I knew that putting the character Max, wearing his pajamas and jumping about in his "wild rumpus," on a chocolate and peanut butter cake would make him smile.

2010 Concurso Tapas Patanegra WINNER: Best Dessert and Best Presentation

Last night I won for "Best Presentation" and "Best Dessert" at the annual Patanegra Tapas Competition! The full story, recipes, and lots of pictures as soon as I get them off of everybody else's cameras!

Orange Sherbet

Orange sherbet has become a tradition in our house on Mother's Day. We all have our own fond memories of eating it from hollowed-out orange peels in Spain, where these treats (and their lemon counterparts) are sold in nearly every restaurant, café, and bar. They're a sweet and sophisticated dessert that we all love, one that's nostalgic but that makes new memories every year.

Chocolate and Salted Butter Caramel Macarons

Guess who just got through the SATs? That's right. Yours truly just endured 3 hours and 45 minutes of testing to prove that she can write a cohesive sentence and identify the unknown angles of a triangle. The whole test is so hyped up and our teachers tell us so much that we should be terrified of it that by the time I actually had to sit it, I was quaking. Last night, to keep myself from thinking about it (and giving myself a little panic attack), I made some lovely chocolate macarons filled with salted butter caramel sauce. I can say that I hardly worried about the test last night; they're certainly distracting. Deliciously so.