Whimsical Bakehouse: Lemon Ginger Cream Cheese Cake

Pretty, but a cop-out.

Yes, definitely a cop-out. The Whimsical Bakehouse is all about gaudy, lavishly decorated cakes (which is why Owen chose it) and I am cherry-picking the easy ones that you don't even need to frost. 

I guess I should change that, but I find cake decorating stressful and maddening! You can't fix your mistakes, you can't fake it, you can't add a little more cumin and make everything all better. You're just left there with your pathetic, lopsided creation that resembles a 5-year-old's pottery project.

Which is why I play it safe and stick to boring recipes, like lemon ginger cream cheese cake. Very moist and richly flavored -- with lemon zest, lemon juice, powdered ginger and chopped crystallized ginger. Here's what authors, Kay and Liv Hansen have to say: "The combination of lemon and ginger makes this cake a great choice for any summer party. . . you will get rave reviews."

I like that Hansen energy!

Were my reviews raves?

Isabel : Good, except when you bite into a piece of "that candied ginger stuff."

Owen: Lemony. Really "stuffing." (?)

Mark: Why did you have to put in those ginger pieces?

Not quite raves, but respectable. I think the gist of the criticisms is: Let lemon cake be lemon cake, don't try to smarten it up with all that elite, "Georgetown cocktail party" ginger stuff.

I do need to tackle a more ambitious Whimsical project next. Maybe "Fling" or "Ode to Jackson Pollock."

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