"No, thank you" to what?!

If you've ever whipped meringue by hand, then you'll appreciate what I went through to make this:

dacquoise with marzapan rose

It's a dacquoise, and it's a two-layer cake made with meringue, flour, butter (oh so much of it), almond and hazelnut praline, sugar (granulated and powdered), sliced almonds, and a lot of sweat and tears because I whipped the meringue into oblivion armed only with a bowl, a whisk, my arm, and absolute determination. *I made the flower with marzapan (almond paste and sugar). 


I realized I haven't told you a very ironic thing about myself. I don't like sweets. With the exception of chocolate (I could kill for dark chocolate), a few fruit pies, and a handful of other pastries, I actually have no interest in eating something like a dacquoise. I was always the weird child at birthday parties who would say "no, thank you" to birthday cake. To this day, the only cake I eat is my mother's german chocolate cake (which, by the way, I dare Le Cordon Bleu to a dual between her and their chocolate cake - yeah, it's that good).


In Spanish, we have a word that describes perfectly my feeling towards most sweets. Empalagar. My family and I have thought long and hard, and consulted many language resources, and we've come to the conclusion that there is no word for this concept in English. It means that your palate becomes overwhelmed by so much sweetness. The connotation is that it makes you almost nauseous and you need a drink of water to get rid of the rich sweet taste in your mouth. Can anyone relate, or do you all think I'm crazy?


So who enjoyed my dacquoise, you ask? My in-laws. They've actually been eating all of the food I bring home, and they'll probably blame me for every additional pound they gain while in Paris. However, they do look after my toddler all day long, so I think they're burning up calories - hopefully that's enough compensation.