(note: this recipe contains raw eggs. Since as far as I know, salmonella prevention is much better in Sweden than in the US, I would use caution in my choice of eggs.)

You will need:
A springform pan
Some sort of cracker-crushing implement; I use a mortal and pestle, but anything goes
1 biggish bowl
2 mediumish bowls
a standmixer or handheld mixer
a zester
some sort of citrus juicing equipment
a freezer with flat space available
aluminum foil

Ingredients:
2 eggs (whites and yokes will be separated)
1 1/2 dl (0.63 cups) whipping cream
1 dl (0.42 cups) sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar or if you’re nowhere near a Scand store, 1/2 tsp powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
1 lemon
2dl (0.84 cups) creme fraiche
4 crackers (preferably McVities Digestive, but graham crackers work fine too)

Here’s how we do it:
Separate eggs and yokes; the yokes go in the big bowl, the whites go in a (very clean!) medium.
Whip the whites in the first medium bowl until they are very hard, you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without them moving. Then whip the cream in the third bowl.

Zest and juice the lemon. On low, or with a spoon, mix the yokes with sugar, vanilla, the zest and juice, and creme fraiche. Fold the eggwhites and cream into the yoke and sugar mix. Mix well, but gently.

Crush all four crackers, and spread half of the crumbs evenly  in the bottom of the pan. Pour the batter over, then sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top. Cover with foil and freeze for at least four hours, perhaps letting it that for a few minutes prior to serving (I prefer it frozen solid, but there you go.)

OM NOM NOM

Nervous Nellie’s sort of has location on its lists of cons; it’s closer to our house than the Chai House was, but further from downtown Ballard, so errands can’t be combined with coffee if we were to pick this place. Which we aren’t; according to Lucas, the coffee was quite good (I am currently not all allowed caffeine for medical reasons), but my hot chocolate was mediocre.

Pros:
- Close to our house
- Good coffee
- Plenty of chairs, both soft and hard
- Ostmacka! (Swedish cheese toast).
- Cool Sweden map that I could use to illustrate out vacation to Lucas.

Cons:
- Too far from downtown Ballard
- Cash or check only (what the HELL? The actual HELL?)
- No pastries
- I make better hot chocolate myself
- Lacks in cozy
- While there might have been “for here” cups, we weren’t asked about them even if we got toast for eating in.
-  Supposedly really bad service at times (I have no personal experience there, I found it firmly in the range of average.)
- I’m pretty sure white moccha wasn’t one of their options.

Verdict: Nope, this isn’t the place. Not bad, but not the place where we’d want to hang out half our weekends.

And. Oh. Man. The owner must be baking 24/7, because the (tiny, tiny) cafe is stocked full of delicious French pastries and breads. I had a raspberry croissant, and Lucas had a pastry of some kind, and were both so delighted we thought we’d just about melt. The coffee drinks were delicious, too; my moccha (short, automatically double-shot) was served in a rustic-looking cup and tasted like heaven – not like chocolate, not like coffee, but like something heavenly in between. We would have brought some of the bread with us home too, but we were short on cash (credit cards aren’t accepted) and it will have to wait. Maybe next time, and then we’ll be there earlier and perhaps just order the rustic rolls and some jam. And yesterday’s bread is half off.

Cons? No hot chocolate, and tacky-looking fridge. But the former can probably be accomplished by special order, since both chocolate syrup and milk is available.

La Boulangerie, 2200 N 45th St Seattle, WA 98103 (I-5 exit 169). Bread, pastries, coffee, juice, chocolate.

Location: ##
Eh. When one thinks of Ballard, one (I) think(s) of Market Street and historic Ballard Avenue, not five blocks off that, on 15th (and area I associate with being on my way somewhere else.) Nevertheless, people seem to find it, so it can’t be too bad.

Look and Feel: ####
Small and insignificant from the outside, nice and cozy on the inside – this place has it all, with the exception of the red-and-white tablecloths, when it comes to Italian dining. It’s the look of the outside, and the fact that we saw straight into a work area through an open door as we were waiting to be seated, that prevented it from reaching a five.

Service: ###
Seating was fast, despite it being a Friday night. The initial ordering was fast, but then we had to wait for rather a long time before we had the chance to order our entrées. There was also a significant wait while we tried to see the dessert menu, but I believe our waiter had some sort of hearing impediment , so he’ll be forgiven for not noticing when we tried to get his attention. The service we did get was polite and attendant, and we felt welcome.

Food: ######
Score! Granted, I rarely take chances with restaurants (I don’t have the financial means or patience), but this was very, very good. Even with a stomach ache, I enjoyed my pesto tortellini immensely. Lucas had a seafood capellini which, he claims, was very good (I sort of doubt I’d like it.) Not to mention the creme caramel we had for dessert… Prices are a few bucks over chain restaurants, but not a lot, and the difference in feeling and quality more than makes up for it.