Cupcake muffin from CHÖK in Madrid, Spain

Back in August with a week off between working music festivals,  I decided to treat myself to a week off in Spain!  After I wrapped up load-out at Outside Lands in San Francisco I un-packed and re-packed, as I'm use to, only this time I'd be boarding my very first flights to Europe to meet up with one of my best  friends who was already there!

It was the trip and experience of a lifetime! One I wouldn't have thought for myself a few short years ago. It wasn't something I really planned the way people plan vacations. It was more of an: 

"I'm here, you should come." 

"I want to be there! I can be there on these dates."

 "Let's do it." 

"I'm going to SPAIN!"

The true meaning of  YOLO?
I think it is, yes. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

We did what we do anywhere and everywhere we go together: we ate our way around town, we ate our little hearts out and it was devine. Everything was, and I cannot express this enough, suh good! One trip to Spain and I'm convinced everything is better in Spain and is better for you. Carbs?! Gluten?! Have no fear, over there they process their foods differently with little to no enrichment or fortified vitamins and minerals like foods here in the States (we fortify foods here because Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables so manufactuors strip foods of certain nutirents then microdose foods with other stuff). 

On one of our last afternoons in Madrid as we purused our cutsie little neighborhood as it bustled with warm air kissed by never ending sunshine & pleasantly content passerbys, we passed one (of many) cafe type spot with pastries on display in the window. It was in fact a small bakery named Chök the spelling of it's name distinctly similair to a local ice-cream shop Töto. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

My eyes were glued to the window as our walk crept to a crawl and then it happened. My first cupcake sighting in Spain! Only, they're called muffins in Spain! 
These were no muffins. These were in fact cupcakes. 

Are they vegan? I didn't and still don't care either way! I knew what I wanted right away: one of the red ones with orange-ish frosting please and thank you! Though I asked the lady who rang me up about the flavors my excitement for the purchase must have made my thinking a little hazy because no matter how many times she repeated herself I cannot for the life of me remember if it's strawberry cake with gauva jam in the middle or visa versa. However, I do remember that the frosting is mango. Sold! There was no wrapper holding the cupcake in place but rather a melted piece of dark chocolate on the bottom of it of the cupcake. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Oddly enough for me and my enormous sweet tooth, I didn't eat this cupcake right away. "But, your review" my surprised friend inquired. Instead of hosuing it in the fridge for a night I took it out of it's perfectly customized single serving take away box and placed it on a plate on the kitchen counter. As I had the cupcake photo shoot with this one it donned on me that with it's red cakes and it's golden frosting it resembles the flag of Spain! 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Come the next day it's frosting was a little stiff so I lived in the moment and dove in, saving the plate of jamon for later. This is the first two-teared cupcake I've had. Sure I've had cupcakes with dollops of yum in the middle but this cupcake was literally a cake of a cupcake cut in half and smeared with fruit jam in the middle. The cake was dense almost like a pound cake, but not and it was buttery but not over saturated like one might expect from a buttery cake in the States. The red hue was deep and consistant through out the whole cupcake though even while eating it I could not tell whether it was strawberry or guava flavored. The thick layer of jam in the middle is Spain's go to sweet fruit spread, filling, flavor guava which meant the cake had to be strawberry. Right? 

When I dove into this cupcake I did so with a knife and fork because it looks like a cupcake that demands to be respectfully eaten with a knife and fork. Also, the frosting made it a pretty tall order and I wanted to taste all of it's flavors all at once all at the same time. So I cut it into bite sized pieces. All of the flavors: mango, strawberry and guava were super light which was just right. It would have been too much if all three were full-on flavor town. The strongest of them was guava, then mango then strawberry. Like the cake, the frosting was also dense and I'm sure it's creamy when fresh. 

None of it was overinduldgent but overall the whole thing was induldgent. That's part of the magic of Spain. No single thing is overindulgent but almost everything is so genuinely beautiful, awe inspiring, inviting and welcoming that you want more, more, MORE! You want it all and you want to take it all in because it's all so good so you don't miss any of it, not a crumb! With each bite sized bite I took I thought to myself, "I'm eating a cupcake...in SPAIN!"

Ladies, pack dresses and sandles when you go to Spain and keep in mind, Barcelona is the hot spot but Chök in Madrid is the place to be! This was a fun trip down memory lane and now I really want to go back to Spain! 

Remember in the beginning of this post when I said a few short years ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be going to Spain? Me? Spain?!
They say money can't buy you happiness but not being able to afford a the bare minimum to live can be a major bummer. And forget about the finer things in life.
 Keep striving to live your best life, whatever that might look like for you. Keep working: work to pay the bills and work on yourself to be your best self so you can live your best life. Everything will fall into place if you move with that intent. The journey won't be straight forward and that's what makes it exciting. Don't forget to rest but don't give up.
How will you find the beauty that's literally all around us and learn how to make the most out of what you've got to live the best life YOU possibly can? Life is not easy but I have learned the hard way that it is also oh so sweet. 

Ready to take that leap whatever it may be? No? 

(that's the perfect time!) 
 Treat yourself to life itself!