j is for just desserts

it's been so very long since we've had a food story. let's fix that right now! on wednesday, i took a break from my jeanne guyon marathon at freeway to run across the street and peruse the yummies at denninger's. two stellar purchases resulted! first off, a viennese cheesecake that is ricotta rather than cream cheese based. which is how we do things in europe, you see! so, if you're looking for something more than brotherly love, do yourself a favour and acquire your very own slice of this heavenly, raisiny, light-as-a-feather, baked dessert. pronto! (shoot... something tells me that wasn't german...)


so, lemons are wicked! i picked some up the other day. and then i put them into my shopping basket, took them to the cashier and paid for them. then they decorated my kitchen counter for a bit. the trouble is, i don't actually have a zester. the humanity! so i tried to use my cheese grater to help make my ginger cake zestfully yum... with mixed success. fortunately, i have been told that presentation isn't everything!


so, what was the second purchase? the stuff that gave the ginger cake its name: crystalized ginger. it's superhot to eat on its own, but i'd bought it with every intention of using it in baking anyway. i sliced it thinly and tossed it into the cake mix, along with green tea ginger ale (rather than oil). the result was kinda crumbly: the online vegan consensus seems to be that pop can replace oil/milk/eggs, but i decided to add one banana for binding. it did not suffice. nevertheless, yum was achieved! along with the ginger candy (middle) are homemade tangerine salt (left) and some dried cranberries (right) dad brought home from his bridge game. i like the colours together :)