The desserts of food stylist and home baker, Tina Diaz, are very distinctive because of two things. First, her sweets are a showcase of local ingredients uniquely utilized. Secondly, she?s exceptional at invigorating the classics, giving them a new spin on things, as seen in her two latest desserts.

So moist it?s impossible to show you a cross-section of the cake.
A cache of ganache cradled in cake gleams ? a streaky, wet, and messy mound. The cake is so moist that it seems to have collapsed at first bite, but now, exposed to teeth and desire, it feeds all my senses. Whiffs of butter and vanilla float out as the chocolate in ganache and cake makes itself known in varying degrees of depth ? luscious licks and dark decadence. The sweet is never too sweet but just this side of satisfying; ask my Bin and daughter, Boo. This is their favorite cupcake of all. While I?m touch and go about meringue, I?m unequivocal about my love for lemons and all things sour. I?d say that after sweet, sour flavors are a very close second.

Tina?s Lemon?Olive Oil Cake is summer on a plate. Radiant and white, its pinwheel design mirrors the circular spiral of the meringue rosettes.
?This cake came about when I was developing butter and oil recipes for a magazine,? Tina tells me. ?I continued to develop it further to my liking and came up with a blond version of my chocolate cake and cupcakes, which are characterized by being moist and dense. I?ve been wanting to incude a lemon dessert for quite so...