I'm a bit behind in my baking challenges because me and my brother jetted off to Barcelona for the weekend! It was beautiful weather, hot and sunny, and a wonderful way to round off the lovely September sunshine.
While I was there, I went on a Sweet Lovers walking tour, run by Food Lover Barcelona.
http://foodlovertour.com/barcelona/sweets-lover-tour/
The tours are always small, maximum of ten people per group, and our group only had 2! My tour guide was called Carla and she was wonderful! She took us around so many wonderful Barcelonan eateries and I was in heaven!
Some of my highlights were...
- http://www.vicens.com/en/ Torrons Viciens. They specialise in nougat, which is apparently a big thing in Barcelona! My favourite was a smooth almond nougat covered in egg yolk, a traditional Christmas treat. It was absolutely delicious! I bought some of that to save for Christmas as well as a chocolate/almond paste that I'm planning to use in brownies!
- http://www.caelumbarcelona.com/cielo/index.php?lan=eng Caelum. I had the most amazing hot chocolate here! It was so thick you had to eat it with a spoon and the little biscuitty sweet doughnuts to dip in it contrasted beautifully with the dark, rich chocolate. Apparently nuns do a lot of baking and sweet making in Barcelona - lots of the treats were made by nuns!
- http://www.pastisserialacolmena.com/en/ Dolceria de la Colmenia. Full of wonderful sweets and pastries! Absolutely delicious and I'd love to visit it again. So many to choose from - I could buy something different everyday for a year and still not try everything they had to offer!
- http://www.casagispert.com/en/about-us-casa-gispert/ Casa Gispert. Casa Gispert is like a beautiful deli, full of wonderful aromas and tasty treats. It sells spices, olive oils, tea, honey, wine, jams... But my favourite thing was the nuts! They are smoked in a traditional wood smoking oven, apparently the last one that smokes in this way in the world! I had the almonds and the hazelnuts - spectacular!
- http://www.hofmann-bcn.com/pasteleria Pasteleria Hofmann. This was my favourite because it was so artistic and creative! Cheesecakes disguised as camemberts, mousses disguised as eggs... I loved it! We had a stunning mascarpone filled croissant - something I must recreate!
- http://bubo.es/en/ Bubo. Last but definitely not least! Mirror glazed mousse cakes are their speciality - another thing I must recreate! Also bought some gorgeous raspberry filled dark chocolates...
Other finds...
- A must for Barcelona is churros! Here is Time Out's list of the best places to try... http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/food-and-drink/barcelonas-best-churros
- http://www.happypills.es/en/ Happy Pills is a fun, cheerful sweet shop where all the sweets are made to look like medicine!
- https://www.facebook.com/bechocolat/ Be Chocolat. A super fun chocolate shop, full to the brim with exciting, innovating chocolates. Lots of free tastes too!
- http://www.chocolatfactory.com This was actually at the airport! Lots of fun, shaped chocolate. While we were there, it was full of Halloween chocolates! :)
Baking inspiration...
- I'd love to recreate the mascarpone filled croissants - delish!
- I want to experiment with making things disguised to look like other things! I especially love the cheesecakes disguised as camemberts!
- Macarons - I know these are French but they are EVERYWHERE in Barcelona! On cakes, on mousses, on ice creams... EVERYWHERE!
- Meringue - stunning swirled meringues everywhere - I must improve my piping skills!
- Mirror glaze mousse cakes - these were also everywhere, I must have a go!
I fully recommend Barcelona! I had a wonderful time and I'm already planning a return visit! September/October is a gorgeous time to visit - English summer temperatures.
Caelum
Dolceria de la Colmenia
Pasteleria Hofmann
Bubo
Happy Pills
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