But then you look around you at the people eating, and the magret de pato listed on the menu, and you realize it’s not just dessert. There’s food there too. This must be investigated further, you think. And it was. Well, it has been, numerous times. 
There’s this lunchtime institution in Spain called the menú del día, which is your (usually) reasonably priced, fixed menu, only available at lunch. It includes a starter, a main, dessert, bread, and a glass of wine. It can range anywhere from 7 to 25 euros, and of course sometimes more, depending on where you go. On the lower end of the spectrum are your typical, common bars/restaurants that will have soup or ‘ensalada rusa’ (a salad covered with mayonnaise but that does not contain any greens, as far as I can tell), or most of the other characteristic plates that you see sometimes in glass counters all day long at the same place. For mains it might be something like fish or sausage, and these places are fine, you mainly pay for what you get, but there are also places that do the peasant food just right, and you get hearty, tasty, fresh food for cheap. But all these places usually have one thing in common: bad desserts. It’s either generic, store bought ice cream, yogurt (served in it’s Danone container, mind you, and if you’re wondering, I do not consider this to be dessert) or macedonia de frutas (like Del Monte canned fruit). This is not good. In situations like these, you’re better off going without dessert. This is the major appeal in Dolso: even if the menú at this aesthetically pleasing dessert restaurant is bad, you know the dessert’s going to be good. And upon further investigation, the menú was found not to be bad. At all. It was found to be quite delicious. See pictures below, and descriptions if you need convincing. I took pictures at two different meals so you could get a real flavor of what it’s like. At Dolso, for the menú del día they offer two starters, two mains, and only one dessert. They also have a light menu, which includes juice of the day, a larger portion of the starter, and of course, dessert. I’ve only been able to give up a main once to get the light menu, but their salads are so dang good here, I don’t know, must be something in the dressing that’s addictive, that the light menu is pretty good too if you’re not feeling extremely hungry. Oh, and one of my favorite touches that comes on many plates is a fresh, green, herb oil (like a pesto) that perfectly dots the plate.
So here goes the first meal. The starters were a salad with fresh cheese and corn, with their secret, wonder of a dressing and a squash soup. Both of the great quality that we expect from Dolso, a perfectly crisp an balanced salad and creamy, hearty soup.
Mains were entrecote with fries, pretty standard but good, and dorada with quinoa and a tiny salad, and you’ll notice a hefty portion of pesto oil, which never hurts. These were both also very good and up to our Dolso standards.
Dessert was a brownie with a banana cream, which doesn’t normally sound great to me (something about the banana cream), but ended up pretty good. 
My constant lunch partner loves the desserts because there’s usually a sprinkling of crunchy, salty cookie like crumbs, or perhaps brownie crumbs thrown over the top that bring a nice bit of salt to the creamy desserts.
The next meal didn’t have a soup for a starter, which was irregular. There’s normally a soup and a salad and I’m just fine with the consistency because they do it well. The starters at this meal were a ham tart with tomato marmalade and a salad that was supposed to have white asparagus, but they ran out, so it only had tomatoes and sunflower seeds. These were ok, but I went for the tart, which was more eggy than anything else, and the salad was lacking a bit, as they ran out of one of the main ingredients.
The mains were confit of duck with ratatouille and potatoes dauphine, and a crusted grouper, which we didn’t get so I didn’t know how it was, but the duck was a big hit. The first time I came to Dolso I had duck, which I don’t normally eat, or order out, but was amazed, it was so tender and perfectly cooked, moist, and all that other good stuff. 
Finally, the dessert was another sort of cream/mousse, that was ok, but one thing I’ve noticed since we started going: the desserts on the menú del día are getting smaller.
They still have that glass display case of pyramids and semi-circles of impressive desserts, but those have never been included in the menu, and the ones that are served as part are shrinking. Other than the duck, I was a little disappointed with the tart, it was nothing special. Third Meal (I actually had this all written up with only the first two meals, but decided I needed a third one to post also, so I took one for the team and went to Dolso again last week…)
Starters were a leek tart (I do love how their tarts are always accompanied by a little salad) and a salad with apples and walnuts, but I hate to say that the salad was a let down, I’m convinced it didn’t have that dressing I love so much. 
The mains were emperador (which I didn’t discover until much after the fact meant swordfish) with carrot puree, quinoa, and cauliflower. 
I went for this one, and it was good, they tend to use quinoa a lot and I have become a huge fan, and the presentation is always great, but the swordfish was a bit overcooked in my opinion. I was actually much more taken with the other option, the burger. I know, a burger. 
Not a greasy American burger with cheese slathered between two buns (I might not be opposed to that, how I miss those…), but a patty of ground beef, cooked perfectly and served over a bed of spelt or faro, or some grain not identified, but like little bits of pasta, and all drizzled with that great basil oil/pesto sauce I was talking about. This was really great and it sounds so humble as a burger. The dessert was better than the last one we had had, it was a brownie with some lemon cream and couple little fruits. I’m always in the mood for a brownie. 
I’m not done yet though, you didn’t think I’d tell you all about a dessert restaurant and not get to the heart of it? There have been a few exceptional ‘take-outs’ from Dolso, and they come from the famed glass case. There’s one thing I discovered upon eating them that you don’t get from just viewing them. They have this insane texture, I don’t know how they do it, it’s like an extremely light cake, that’s a bit spongy, but also fluffy, and seems to have the texture of a cloud (what I think of as a cloud). It’s not springy like elastic, but you can punch it in, and it’s so light and sort of melts in your mouth. I don’t know how else to describe it, or what exactly it is, but good. At first it was confusing and I wasn’t sure, but now I look forward to it. Here are some of the actual desserts (that Dolso is better known for). 
One is a fig based dessert, and the other, a more citrusy one, though I can’t remember exactly. I'm sorry there's no cross section of these...I might just have to stroll down to Dolso and get myself a cake strictly for foodblogging purposes. Next is another dessert, but not one of their intriguing cakes, this is like a chocolate and hazelnut (my two best friends) mousse and cream combination. 
Obviously very happy with this one. And it came topped with a brownie and some candied hazelnuts.
So, for the most part people (I might be the leader of this group) think that Spain does not have good desserts. In this case, I would show them the way to Dolso, and get them lunch while at it.
DolsoC/ Valencia 227
934.875.964
http://www.dolso.es/
So, cut each piece individualy first and put a good layer of brown sugar over the top, and then torch it, and you’ll see the sugar bubbling and melting together. It’s great. If you don’t have a blow torch, a broiler in the oven works too, that’s what I normally use at home. Now feel free to shatter burnt sugar. Shatter away. It’s fun.
Paccheri is the pasta, as you can see a big, smooth tube shape, and alla gricia means with bits of guanciale (or bacon as a substitute) and pecorino cheese, it sounds very simple but was delicious and has been recreated since this trip. I would go back to this restaurant for this dish. The other standout plate at the first dinner was the salad, which included radicchio, butternut squash, and guanciale again. A really good combination, the sweet squash and the bitter radicchio, and of course the salty meat. 
We got another pasta dish, which I don’t remember and obviously didn’t find it significant enough to take a picture, and a plate of assorted meats and cheeses, which was just mediocre. We’ve had better in Barcelona. Also had better in Italy. 
One more thing about Rome: they’re sometimes known for their offal based dishes. That’s to say, after the butchers sold all the parts people wanted to buy, they ate what was left over. So for weak-stomached Americans such as myself, it’s all unappealing stuff like tripe and tongues and more. Lucky for me, anywhere you go in Italy, you can find pasta. There’s one dish that is specifically Roman: pajata. Get ready for it, weaklings. It’s baby lamb’s or cow’s intestines that aren’t cleaned out and therefore still have the mother’s milk in them.
I knew that I was not going to try this. D knew that he had to. When we got to Agustarello it was a bit on the edge of Testaccio, and it was a quiet Saturday afternoon, it felt like Sunday. We got there right when it opened, so it was quiet too. The wait staff was nice enough, and more than waiters, it felt like some family that owned it sent out the stylish Roman woman to talk to us and take our orders. I couldn’t decide between two pastas, so we talked to her and agreed on a sample plate of both. D jumped on his first chance at pajata, served with rigatoni. Anyways, my first pasta was great. 
I’m kicking myself now for not remembering the name of the noodles, but they were something like picci where they are a little thicker in the middle and thin out at the end of the tube. They were served with simple chicory, and some grated cheese over, and really good. 
I would’ve taken two plates of that. Next, I got gnocchi because I do love them, but these did not seem homemade and were just ok.
But that first pasta definitely made up for them. I did not try D’s pajata, he thoroughly enjoyed it, but I opted out of it. And if you look closely, you can see inside the intestine. 
That night we ventured back to Testaccio and went to a place we had read about in guide books called Trattoria da Oio o Casa Mia, and had to wait in a line. we ended up eating next to some friendly Germans (it was the kind of restaurant where the tables are separate but maybe by the space of an inch). It was very loud and crowded, and I enjoyed my pasta, I got carbonara, which is also typical Roman (I saw it on just about every menu along with bucatini allla amatriciana) but more well known outside of Italy than the previous things we tried. It was nothing different, like my alla gricia or with ciccoria, but it was creamy and rich, just how I like it. 
D was not so happy with his, he got something like lamb and thought it wasn’t very juicy or tender. 
This would be our Sunday lunch. There’s a famous deli such as this in Testaccio called Volpetti. It’s just a tiny shop considering the amount of products it packs in. They’ve got a little bread counter when you first walk in to your right, and straight ahead is the glass case that spans the length of the store, housing meats and cheeses. Down at the far end, they have the preserved things, like olives, artichokes, stuffed peppers, and sauces or spreads like tapenade and pesto and all that good stuff. On the opposite wall, there’s more cheese in a smaller case, I think for fresher cheeses like certain goats cheese and mozzarella. If there were no prices, we could have lived in this store. But we had budgets and realized we wouldn’t be able to take everything on our picnic, so I tried to remember what little Italian I knew and ended up getting some sort of mixture between Spanish, English, and Italian. The men behind the counters were very understanding and patient. We got our supplies and then on Sunday walked around the Coliseum and settled overlooking the ruins to eat everything, which included: focaccia, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, eggplant, olives, two types of cheese, one being a very soft, fresh goat cheese wrapped in some sort of cabbage leaf, 
wine, and of course, my favorite pesto. Can’t complain about the picnic lunch at all, I just wish I could do it everyday. 
Well this is where my food pictures stop. There was a complaint from D, that we never made it to have Roman pizza, we were going to on our last night, but I couldn’t wait and wanted pasta. We ended up at another place in Testaccio and I had bucatini al’amatriciana finally, which was just ok. So next time, we’ll have to try the pizza.
Oh, and one last note: not only did I add candied Clementine peel, but also a couple drops of orange oil. And I’m putting up a picture of these oils because if you haven’t noticed, I tend to use them a lot in desserts, like in margarita cheesecake, or cookies, or anything, they’re great, and I’ve decided they’re almost necessary to have around the house. And they’re extremely potent, so you only need a bit. 
This means you can take it out after 15-20 minutes or leave it in for as long as an hour. When you think they’re good and ready, remove the peels and place, not touching, on parchment paper to dry. When they have hardened, break or cut them into little bits and they’re ready to mix into the semifreddo.
minted mushy peas and jamon iberico
cover, and let rise until doubled in size (this should take about an hour, and I suggest doing it inside a warmed oven, as I said before. Mine really made a difference, and I was so happy to see my dough had doubled. If you do it correctly, then I think only two rises in total are necessary, but you can do another one if you knead/punch down again, covering, and put back in a warm place for about another hour, otherwise, go on to the next step of rolling out the dough).
While you wait for things to rise, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. When you’re done with your rising, whether you’ve chosen one or two, go back to the lightly floured surface and roll your dough out into a rectangle. Lots of recipes gave different measurements for the size of your rectangle, but you can judge how thick you want yours…I’d just say roll out to about the size of a baking sheet or a bit larger. Now spread your cinnamon/brown sugar mixture over it, to the edges, quickly mixing more and adding as you need…I had to. Starting at one of the short edges of the rectangle, roll up the dough until the next edge. This is where dental floss comes in handy. Get a long strip, and slide it under the dough so you can cut your first roll. Once again, you’ve had cinnamon rolls before (I hope) and you know how big they are, I’d say cut each one about 2 or 3 inches. Take the floss, wrap around the dough and pull, cutting through the dough and you should get a clean cut. 
Stand your roll upright on the baking sheet, and let them rise for a final time. This should take about 30 minutes, and they’ll double again. 
Now turn the oven on 350 F/170 C, and bake them for about 20 minutes…until they just start to brown on the outside. While you’re waiting for them to cook, make your frosting, just mix everything together. Whip/stir more for fluffier frosting. I put in more cream cheese than some recipes called for and less powdered sugar because I like it to be a little more tangy and less sweet, so you can adjust. Take them out of the oven and pile on the icing and watch it melt as it comes into contact with the warm cinnamon rolls. And that’s it. Homemade cinnamon rolls, and they might even be better than Cinnabon. 
The destruction of the cinnamon roll follows.
