Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Food Fight Day Two: The Sweeter Side


By Cassondra Murray and Jeanne Adams

Call the neighbors. Call the relatives. Even the ones you don’t like and haven’t seen for ten years. Rally EVERYONE. We need numbers people!
NUMBERS to vote for CAKE!!!!!

Yes, that’s right. Day two of the food fight is Cake vs. Pie for Christmas. And I fear I shall be in the minority. Jeanne, my Evil Twin, will call for numbers in favor of PIE, no doubt.

Jeanne (hollering from the Lair Kitchen): YES!! YES!!! All for Pie, stand up and say AYE!!!

Cassondra: I think, for purposes of fairness, that we should exclude Pumpkin Pie. I love Pumpkin Pie, but it’s not like any other pie really. Add another half cup of flour, and you’ve got a Pumpkin Roll, which is…..drum roll please…CAKE!!! BuAhahahahahaha.

Jeanne: Yeah, yeah and that’s cheating.

Cassondra: Whatever...

Jeanne: Okay, ground – or pie plate – rules. For the purposes of the food fight, pumpkin pie is rendered an “Ultimate Food” rather than be sullied by the cake/pie fight. Snork. (This should be fun)

Cassondra: Okay, fine, I'm good with that.

I also like other fruit pies. Apple, cherry, peach (cobbler is my fav treatment for these fruity concoctions),even Rhubarb. But there the interest in pie hits a hard holiday wall.

The normal seasonal pie-type desserts for the holidays……I don’t like those.

Jeanne: Yes, fruit pies are divine, but they’re more summery, I agree. Now, a good strawberry rhubarb? Oh, that’s Summer! :> However, you make them the dread CAKE when you add cobbler, you know. Hot pie w/ extra crust is waaaay too akin to cake for my taste, missy.



Cassondra (ignoring her Evil Twin): Lessee…for the holidays there’s usually Chess Pie, Pecan Pie, Chocolate and Coconut and Derby Pie.

Nope. Don’t like any of ‘em.

Don’t much like dessert bar thingies either.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a layered dessert bar thingy at Christmas. As desserts go, these newfangled dessert-esque thingies remind me of lunch at a fast food place….it PRETENDS to be food, but really isn’t. Fills up your belly and all, but the rest of the experience is, well, lacking. Dessert bars are just that way. Sweet, but lacking the soft yummy goodness and satisfying slice-of-something-on-a-plate of an old-fashioned handmade scratch cake.

Jeanne: Just a note here, no cats were harmed in the making of this blog. And for the record, nobody better be swingin’ one in MY kitchen! Hahahah!

Cassondra: With Pumpkin Pie out of the equation, I fall solidly on the side of CAKE for the holidays. I love homemade cake of all kinds, and if it’s a fruitcake from the Collin Street Bakery in Texas, I can even manage to like THAT. Which is saying something, as I’m not a fruitcake fan.

Jeanne: Awww, c’mon now, no lemon meringue? No--

Cassondra (interrupting): Hey, hey hey! Lemon is a fruit. You said that makes it a summer pie. *flutters eyelashes*

Jeanne (raising one eyebrow): No Pecan? Oh my goodness me! What would Christmas be without Pecan pie, or better yet, CHOCOLATE pecan pie?

I once won a $25 bet that I wouldn’t eat a mess of collards, which at the time I despised. Since I still had pecan pie on my plate, I took the bet and ate them along with the pie. It was pretty gross, but hey, I won the bet all because of that sweeeeeet pecan pie!

Cassondra: Hey, 25 bucks is 25 bucks. Good job. *High fives Jeanne*

Jeanne: Oh, and fruit tarts and slurpy mince pies

Cassondra: Mince pies? GRRRRROOOOOSSSSSS!

Jeanne: Yes, they DO take some getting used to, I admit, and oh yes, indeed, chocolate meringue pie. Then there’s Ice cream pie. Yuuuummmmm!

Cassondra: I call foul on that one!



Jeanne (Ignoring the claim of foul): And those cookie bar thingies? Very pie-like – dense, yummy, multiple layers. Yep. (Excluding pumpkin bars on the Ultimate Food Exclusion) There’s 7-layer cookie bars, and blondies and lemon squares. Oh, yeah, pie-like, but still, second best to REAL pie!

Cassondra: Fine, fine. My favorite cake is homemade German Chocolate from my grandmother’s recipe, which took (hold onto your cholesterol levels) 18 eggs.

I love Red Velvet Cake too, and that’s a traditional Southern Christmas cake. Luscious moist deep red cake. Three awesome layers of it, with incredible rich cream cheese icing. Yummmmm….

Jeanne: Okay, okay, I’ll admit to loving those cakes, but really, for the holidays? Seriously? No way, man. It’s PIE!!! Say it with me people: PIE!!!! (And really, 18 eggs??? Yikes!)

Cassondra: The thing that tips the scales hard for CAKE, in my opinion, is CHEESECAKE YAY!

Cheesecake is the cake of all cakes. There’s raspberry swirl, turtle, and dark chocolate. There’s strawberry, chocolate swirl and tiramisu-style cheesecake. Cheesecake is the ultimate dessert.

WHY, with all of this gorgeous cake available, would a person fall on the side of PIE in the food wars? Why?


Jeanne: Oh, now, that’s just low. Cheesecake is cake in pie form. Doesn’t that make it a wanna-be pie, masquerade pie? I mean, it’s low, its dense, it’s pie-like. Seriously.

Cassondra: CheeseCAKE CheeseCAKE CheeseCAKE.

Jeanne: (Points at clock) Ahem.....



Cassondra: Oh, and I suppose I should give a nod to cookies. My husband, Steve, loves cookies. But I think cookies wanted to be cake, but fell short, and flat, and hard. Cookies dream of being cake.

Jeanne: Now there, we agree, but cookies might want to be pie too. They can have dreams of utmost perfection can’t they? Why would they settle for being CAKE when they could dream of being PIE!!!???



Cassondra: AAAAAHHHHH!

Okay Banditas and friends. You must settle the food fight once and for all.

Cake or Pie?

What's your favorite kind?

No fence sitting allowed. Even if you like both, you gotta make a firm choice here. (So pick a side and let Day Two of the Food Fight begin!

188 comments:

mariska said...

me ?

mariska said...

well, since i love cakes. i'm gonna choose cakes ! yays !
those pictures of Cheesecake, Red Velvet..makes me drooling now :P

Cassondra said...

Hey Mariska!

Congrats on the GR!

And now you have someone to share all that wonderful CAKE with you!

Ha! Chalk one up for CAKE.

;0)

Michelle Santiago said...

awesome! another food fight :)

i too am going with cake. i love cake and, yes, those pictures of cakes on this post are drool-worthy... makes me want to bake a cake now.

congrats on the GR mariska. i don't know how y'all do it. i always seem to be 4-5 minutes late.

Cassondra said...

chelleyreads said:

too am going with cake. i love cake and, yes, those pictures of cakes on this post are drool-worthy... makes me want to bake a cake now.


Woohooooo! Another CAKE fan!

I just kind of figured it would be a straight run for Pie today. Everybody seems to love pie. I'm the only one in the family always asking for cake.

But what kind, y'all? What's your favorite?

Gail said...

Congrat mariska on nabbing the rooster!

What is I say I love both cake and pie depends on what kind it is. I love chocolate and white cake. But I love me some pecan pie, blueberry pie, lemon pie, but not real big on apple pie. You ladies have make me hungry just looking at the photos.

PinkPeony said...

Hi Ladies!

Hmm..this is tough as I love both, but there's nothing quite like a well made layer cake.

Pumpkin pie is my favorite, coconut cream and banana cream are a close second...then apple.

For the holidays, it's always pumpkin pie, a fruit tart of some sort for those who live in fear of the Calorie Police, and either a cheesecake or chocolate mousse cake...but I might do a tiramisu this year instead...which is not a cake or a pie. Will anyone be blogging about trifle-like desserts?
congrats, Mariska.

Helen said...

Congrats Mariska have fun with him

You two are making it hard but I choose cake I love cake (and pie too.) At this time of the year I love Christmas fruit cake can't get enough of it I have already made 5 and need to make another one ( I give them as presents) but I always have 2 for our family.
I do love mud cake as well and velvet cake I have had a few times and really enjoyed it.

Have Fun
Helen

Lynz Pickles said...

CAKE! Chocolate cake all the way! And now I'm hungry. *sob*

Jane said...

I'm a cake lover. I like strawberry cheesecake, red velvet cake and ice cream cake(Carvel.) I do occasionally crave pies. My favorite is key lime pie.

Tawny said...

Wellllll... if we're counting out the fruit pies and pumpkin pie, I'm probably going to have to side with the cakes. I just finished making a German Chocolate cake with homemade coconut pecan frosting for my daughters birthday (can't wait to taste it!!) and am partial to apple cakes at the holidays (fruit again) and love anything chocolate in cake form.

I do adore pecan pie, though. But only the way my gramma makes it. And I only get that about once every eight years... so yeah. On the cake side here.

Sorry, Jeanne *g*

Ju Dimello said...

Cakes of course ;)
I ve had great success with muffins at home - filled with almonds and cashews - slurp, my mouth is already watering..

Dianna Love said...

Since you knocked out my all time favorite - pumpkin anything, but I do love the pie - I'll go with cake. I like German Chocolate and a really simple one - white cake with chocolate icing.

Love all the pictures.

Christine Wells said...

"cookies dream of being cake" SNORK!! You two really take the...er...pie? Fabulous post, ladies!

Anyhoo, I had a hard time with this one, and I only broke the tie by thinking of the absolute very best pie I have ever tasted (caramel tart? does that count as pie? In Oz if it doesn't have a pastry cover it's called a tart) vs the absolute best cake I've tasted (marsala sponge cake) and I'd have to come down on the side of cake. Sorry, Jeanne!

But I also must qualify that by saying I have never even heard of most of the desserts you've been talking about, so I don't think my vote really counts. I'm only thinking that the next time I come over to the States, I NEED to have a slice of red velvet cake. Especially with the cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Congrats Mariska!

Christine Wells said...

Oh, wow, the internet is an amazing thing! I just turned up the recipe for the marsala cake I mentioned: http://www.woolfit.com/marsalacake.html

Realized it was from a 1998 issue of Gourmet Traveller magazine, so I've carried the memory of this cake with me for more than 10 years! I am such a saddo.LOL

If anyone tries it out, let me know.

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

But I like sitting on the fence and I am not a big sweet person. Okay, okay, quit throwing things, I didn't say I didn't eat sweets at all! If you are going to throw things at me someone toss Sven over here.

I am going to have to go with cake on this one, my mother made a German chocolate from scratch and I would do my best to make it fall so I could have the cake without icing, yeah, I know, I was a brat but I don't like coconut. (Geez ladies, stop throwing things at me!) And you are right, lots and lots of eggs went into the making of that recipe. Warm, soft and light, melt in your mouth chocolate, what could be better?

Deb Marlowe said...

Okay, again I'm being the rebel in the food war. How about trifle? That's my fave--and it's really a mix of the two, with it's cake and pudding layers!

I'm making Gingerbread Trifle today, as a matter of fact! For a Holiday party this evening!

Yum!

Gillian Layne said...

Fruitcake! When it's well done, it's heaven on earth. I love the look on my husband's face when I bring home our favorite fruitcake, made in Beatrice, Nebraska. We used to live very close to them.

http://www.beatricebakery.com/

A slice of fruitcake and hot tea--perfect!

Joan said...

Very sneaky Deb...trifle...lol

Man, you girls know how to make a groggy mind think so early in the morning.

I guess I'd have to go with...cake (sorry Duchesse)mainly because I am NOT a good pie maker.

I AM a good Cake baker :-)

I really don't have a signature dessert for any holiday though. I did make a deep chocolate and Grand Marnier cake for my work Christmas party.

There is a lot of versatility in cakes and combos with fillings and frosting which appeals to my creative side.

As to holidays, I like experimenting with all types of cookies. I LOVE your picture of thumbprint cookies...they are iconic for the season. And don't decry the bar type cookies. Depends on how much bourbon you put into them.

Hmmmm...what will I bake this weekend? Gingerbread (cake?) anyone?

Barbara Monajem said...

*** Mince pie! *** is my absolute fave. Cake is all very well, but I almost always choose pie. And the great thing about pies is they can be sweet OR savory.

There was a piece about old-fashioned foods on Morning Edition a while ago, and one of the recipes was for an olden days mince pie with meat in it. I am definitely going to try it.

As for fruit bars... Jeez, guys. My Cherry Slice bars are SUPERB. They are NOT interlopers on the holiday scene. My grandmother passed the recipe to my mom, who passed it to me. So there. In fact, I think I'll blog about them.
They're better than almost any cake.

But nothing tops mince pie.

Barbara Monajem said...

And because I was on the road most of yesterday and didn't get back in time to reply, yes, I spelled turducken wrong. You can buy turduckens (a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey) and even turporkens (turkey, pork loin and chicken, which is probably the closest you'll get to a turkey/ham compromise) at lacrawfish.com or cajunmeats.com

pjpuppymom said...

LOL! Y'all are too funny!

Okay, if you were talking about any other time of year I'd come down firmly on the side of German Chocolate Cake. That's my favorite dessert, bar none. If I could only have one cake for the rest of my life it would be German Chocolate. I love it!

BUT, you did say Christmas dessert and (sorry, Cassondra) that has to be pecan pie. I just can't imagine a Christmas without one.

Deb said...

No sitting on the fence? No thumb in a pie and the other hand fisted around a piece of cake? Tough decision. Well, any other time of year, my mother's fruit pies would win, hands-down. But, then, I like pumpkin and mince pies, too. So, for Christmas dessert, pie it is.
Cassondra, to make you feel better, I love carrot cake and pumpkin roll. Served carrot cake at our wedding reception because my entire family loves it so much.
P.S. Jeanne and Cassondra, you are hilarious and fun!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Mariska! Congrats, you get the crazy, "I'm not a Holiday food" Golden Rooster today!

But jeez, you picked Team Cake! Seriously? C'mon people! PIE!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Okay, Chellyreads is obviously on Team Cake, but I claim Gail for Team Pie! She listed ALLLLLL the favs....and their all PIE!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Calorie Police. Snork.

Well put, Pink!

But jeeeez, did ya' have to go Team Pie? She got the "winning hand on me yesterday with Turkey and now, with CAKE? SeriouslY?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

I cry FOWL!!! We shouldn't have put Pumpkin on the Ultimate Food Source list because I'm so losing this food fight to Cake.

Jeez, there's Lynz, Jane, and Helen, and even Tawny! Yikes!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Drat! Ju came down on the side of Cake too! Wow, I'm a total loser without pumpkin on my side.

'Cause ya'know muffins totally count as cake.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

*sniffle* Et tu, Dianna?

Hey, at least you admitted that if Pumpkin were in the running, you'd go for PIE!!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Okay, Cassondra, Christine's vote for cake is null and void. She's never even HEARD of some of these pies, so she can't be a vote for Team Cake.

You know. She doesn't know what's she's missing, right? So...no vote.

Grins.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

DI-ANNA!!! How could you? I am NOT tossing Sven. (I'm strong, but hey, that guy's solid muscle and I ain't risking my massage privliges!)

Sigh. Alas for PIE! Another cake afficianado.

*sniffle*

*evil grin* but hey, I'll toss coconut if you really, really want me too...

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Deb, trifle? Really?

Okay, I claim you for the PIE SIDE!!!

Bwah-ha-ha!!

Janga said...

I'd rather be a fence sitter since I can't imagine Christmas without pecan pies and lemon chess pie, but if I'm forced to choose, I have to go with the cakesters. My choice is based more on sentiment than taste though. Some of my earliest Christmas memories are of my mother and grandmother baking from-scratch Christmas cakes that they only made once a year--Lane cake, orange cake, yellow cake with pecan fudge frosting . . .

Deb said...

I just thought of something. Oh, how delish! Sven could serve the winners their choice of pie or cake.

Hey, my mother makes old-fashioned coffee cake for Christmas Day; it's not pie, it's not cake, but more like a pastry. So is it just a Christmas dessert? (It's filled with raisins and pecans, or cherries, or currants.)

p226 said...

THE CAKE IS A LIE!

PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE

PIE!

Pumpkin pake of course, is the universe imploding hybrid.

But no. No cake. PIE!

Argh. Now I'm hungry.

KDSGS said...

Christmas and pies just go hand in hand, I got to admit. Yes, Mince Pie is Christmas all the way, no doubt my British roots and Canada is a commonwealth country! My mother adds finely chopped fresh apple to the mincemeat (out of a jar, of course)

But, I will shock myself and my family and go with cake. Yes...cake.

Some years back I started making a 2 layer cake for Xmas called 'Amazin' Raisin Cake' I forget where I found the recipe, it is now tradition.

Lots of spices, chopped apples and walnuts, and raisins! Cream cheese icing! *drool* It is heavy (like a fruit cake) moist, rich and decadent.

CAKE!!!! CAKE!! CAKE!!!!

Hellie Sinclair said...

I'm sorry, Cass, but I'm clearly on the side of Pie here. (Though that line from TO THE NINES by Evanovich comes to mind when Ranger is asked if he'd like a piece of pie and he says, "They don't serve the kind of pie I like here." Anyway...)

I love cake. The best cake of all is wedding cake. I don't know what bakers put in wedding cake, but it's crack. I could eat it all day, every day.

German chocolate is tasty; 6 layer chocolate cakes are the bomb; and who can turn down a splendid coconut cake? Exactly.

But at the holidays, I'm about the pie. Pumpkin pie and pecan pie especially, but I won't turn down chocolate or derby either. (Now I don't like fruit pies really--apple is about my limit there, and I do love gooseberry, but everyone forgets that one. Cherry is gross. Sorry. The texture.)

And I can't turn down a dessert bar. The magic bars are handsdown my favorite. If eating a piece of pie is like drinking a cup of coffee, then eating the magic bar is like putting an IV in and directly inserting caffeine to my bloodstream.

And who can resist frosted sugar cookie cutouts? Where do those fall? I mean, the translation of cookie is "little cake"...

Nancy said...

Mariska, congrats on taking home the GR!

Cassondra and Jeanne, you do realize, do you not, that too much thinking about food generates weight gain? It's a form of compensation for not actually eating all that food in one's mind.

And I think your rules need refining. Cake and frosting do not necessarily go together. Take pound cake, for example. Or Mrs. P226's recipe (was it pake?), which P226 shared with us at Thanksgiving and which was not frosted.

Now, if frosting figures into the equation, I'm a cake person. If we're talking eating the food as it comes from the pan, then it has to be pie.

Favorite cake: Chocolate with chocolate icing, yellow with caramel icing, red velvet with cream cheese or buttercream icing, carrot with cream cheese icing, in that order. Or buttercream icing direct from the bowl, which would trump all other choices. *g*

Favorite pie: Chocolate cream (no meringue--uck!), apple, cherry, peach. Despite having lived my entire life in the south, I really do not like pecan pie. Something about the texture of the pecans on top just doesn't do it for me.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Gillian, sigh, another for cake. Sigh.

On the other hand, fruitcake with tea...not bad.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Joanie! You too? For Cake? I just can't believe you...

Wait. Deep Chocolate and Grand Marnier? Tell me more...

Sorry, sorry, nearly seduced by the Dark Chocolate Side! Yikes! Gotta shake this off!

Hey, I can teach you to make pie. Honestly.

C'mon...say Aye for Pie!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Barbara said: *** Mince pie! *** is my absolute fave. Cake is all very well, but I almost always choose pie.

HALLELUJAH!!! FINALLY! Barbara, my sister! PIE!!!!!

Grins. I particularly like the "cake is all very well" line. Hear that, Cakesters? Snork.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

PJ Said: BUT, you did say Christmas dessert and (sorry, Cassondra) that has to be pecan pie. I just can't imagine a Christmas without one.

WOOT! I'm on a pie (as opposed to a roll!)!!! Woohoo, PJ!

See!? Finally, some pie lovers check in.

Pecan pie. Sluurrrrrp! Hey, PJ, do you have pecan trees in your neck of the woods? My family in Georgia used to send us boxes of pecans. Alas, they moved...sigh.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Barbara...I was so elated to finally have a Pie Companion, that I totally missed this - Cherry Slice Bars? Hmmmm. Sound intriguing.

And the whole turducken thing? Really?

I have come to know that I am an ignoid when it comes to food. WOW!?! YOu mean people DO that?

*going to check the websites*

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

T.O.Deb (the other Deb, as opposed to Deb Marlowe)said: No sitting on the fence? No thumb in a pie and the other hand fisted around a piece of cake? Tough decision. Well, any other time of year, my mother's fruit pies would win, hands-down. But, then, I like pumpkin and mince pies, too. So, for Christmas dessert, pie it is.

WOOT!! Sing Allelu! She said PIE IT IS!! More Pie People! Pie People of the World, UNTIE! (or Unite if you've had your coffee this morning)

Had to laugh about the "one hand clutching" the cake though...

Unknown said...

Congrats on getting the rooster today mariska! WTG

I am more a cake, cookie, or brownie person myself! All that chocolate goodness of a nice chewy brownie, you just can't beat that! A nice soft warn chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. Hmmmmm!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Janga said: My choice is based more on sentiment than taste though. Some of my earliest Christmas memories are of my mother and grandmother baking from-scratch Christmas cakes that they only made once a year--Lane cake, orange cake, yellow cake with pecan fudge frosting . .

Sigh, another CAKE vote. Sigh. But sentiment willlll win out, I suppose. (Hate to admit it, but that picture of the German Chocolate? OMGosh. My Mama used to make one like that....

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

T.O. Deb said: Hey, my mother makes old-fashioned coffee cake for Christmas Day; it's not pie, it's not cake, but more like a pastry. So is it just a Christmas dessert? (It's filled with raisins and pecans, or cherries, or currants.)

Oh, this sounds yummy! But hey, FRUIT is involved...winter fruits...so maybe this is another null vote. :>

limecello said...

Cake! Cake cake cake cake cake!
Cake!

:D

C is for Cassondra, and for cake! [Heh, my friend and I also had "C is for cookie... next verse! C on my calc test, is good enough for me!" Obviously we were very high achievers senior year of high school..] (Actually, we were.) All joking aside... I love pies and cakes - I love desserts.
But given the choice? Cake. Cake cake cake. Always cake. :D

Congrats on the GR, mariska!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: Pumpkin pake of course, is the universe imploding hybrid.

HAHAHAHAHAH!!! Well, the Universe can implode, but we'll always have Pake....

SNORK!!!

Hey, if it's pumpkin, I'll take it!

And I'll especially take it because you're on TEAM PIE!!!! WOOOHOOOOO!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Drew said: Christmas and pies just go hand in hand, I got to admit.

You can say this and still go with CAKE?

*grinds teeth* Really?

Sigh.

Of course, that raisin cake does sound good...

Cybercliper said...

Wow, this blog open up and 5 pounds got added to each hip!!! No indecision here - it's CAKE all the way...chocolate, lemon, coconut, cheesecake, pound, cup, or bundt - love cake! I'll catch up with the results later. I'm going to the kitchen...gotta taste for Angel Food cake.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Ms. Hellion said: But at the holidays, I'm about the pie. Pumpkin pie and pecan pie especially, but I won't turn down chocolate or derby either.

WOOT! You had me worried, listing all that great cake - and BTW, you're right about wedding cake! - then you came solidly down on the side of PIE!!!

Now, the cookie bars, I'm with you there. :> But cookies are wanna-be-cake, for the mast part. See? You said "cookies means little cake"

Deb Marlowe said...

Okay p226, I have boys, so I may be one of the few who understands that the cake IS a lie!

In fact, my boys' coach spent all of October telling his kids that he was going to dress as the Cake from Portal for Halloween, and when he didn't and they clamored to know why not--he said

"Because the cake is a lie!"

I laughed!

jo robertson said...

Oh my goodness, another food topic??!! I'm gaining weight even as I read.

For the holidays, pumpkin pie (noting the exclusion) and nothing else will quite do it.

For ALL other occasions, I fall firmly on the cake side -- yummmy coconut cakes and creme-filled cakes and German chocolate cakes and strawberry shortcakes.

Hmmm, I'm off to do some baking!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: Now, if frosting figures into the equation, I'm a cake person. If we're talking eating the food as it comes from the pan, then it has to be pie.


Oh, come now! Cassondra, is this fence sitting? We said no fence sitting! Grins.

Does no-frosting to adulterate the cake make it a cake vote? Or pie? Hmmmm.

Cassondra!!! Are you out of the coffin yet? Coffee? You decide. :>

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cyberclipper, you are obviously firmly on the side of Team Cake .

Bundts? Wow, haven't made a bundt in a while. Got a great bundt-poundcake recipe. Hmmmmmm.....

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Drat! Another Cake-er. Virginia, you went cookie-cake for the brownies. :>

Ahhhh well...

KDSGS said...

LOL! Jeanne, if I was allowed to fence sit, I would be there now perched on that picket. *ouch*

I love pies. Pumpkin and Thanksgiving, Lemon Meringue and Easter...but...I went to the dark side. Cake.
Blame the cream cheese frosting.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Sigh. Limecello. A Team Cake-r. Sigh.

Had to LOL about the Calc test. :>

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Deb M said: In fact, my boys' coach spent all of October telling his kids that he was going to dress as the Cake from Portal for Halloween, and when he didn't and they clamored to know why not--he said

"Because the cake is a lie!"


Oh, man, I knew there was a reference there! What's Portal? I'm lost. Sigh.

I have boys too, but I'm thinkin' they are tooooo young for what ever this is. Grins.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Jo! Yeah, see, Cassondra figured I'd TOTALLY win if Pumpkin Pie wasn't off the table (so to speak.) :>

About the baking...whatcha gonna bake? Hmmm? Anything yummy? Wait, what am I thinking, of COURSE it'll be yummy. Still...whatcha gonna make?

p226 said...

Portal is on Half Life 2's release.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Drew said: Blame the cream cheese frosting.

Okay, I will.

BLAME!!! Take that, Cream Cheese Frostine! BLAME!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

That should, of course, have been FROSTING with a G.

So, P226, is Half Life 2 a video game?

My kids are toooo young for most of the vids. :>

Cassondra said...

Gail, do you like those yummy Holiday layer cakes of all kinds.

Coconut cake?

Yummmm

Yes, all, I have crawled out of the coffin, red-eyed from the sound of wind banging things round about the house (We are having high winds here) and am awaiting coffee....OH, there's the beep of the coffeemaker now!

Cassondra said...

Pink Peony said:

but I might do a tiramisu this year instead...which is not a cake or a pie. Will anyone be blogging about trifle-like desserts?


OH, I love trifles. I have a beautiful hand-blown trifle bowl.

And tiramisu is divine. I've never made it,but want to. Oh...and it's got ladyfingers in it. Those are CAKE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA

Cassondra said...

Helen said:

I do love mud cake as well and velvet cake I have had a few times and really enjoyed it.


Helen what's a mud cake? We have a variety of extremely chocolatey cake in the south that is called Mississippi Mud cake. It's very dense and just yummy. Is your mud cake anything like that?

Cassondra said...

Lynz Pickles, I'm sorry honey, for making you hungry.

Well...not too sorry...(grin)

Cassondra said...

Jane said:

I'm a cake lover. I like strawberry cheesecake, red velvet cake and ice cream cake(Carvel.) I do occasionally crave pies. My favorite is key lime pie.

I love Key Lime Pie too. But cake....loves me some cake.

Cassondra said...

Tawny said:

Wellllll... if we're counting out the fruit pies and pumpkin pie, I'm probably going to have to side with the cakes.

Well, Tawny..HOOORAY that you like CAKE.

But honestly I don't think the fruit pies are off limits. Only pumpkin. I don't see a lot of fruit pies at Christmas though. I see all the goo-based pies.

Cassondra said...

Ju those almond and cashew muffins sound incredible! YOu know, I almost never cook with almonds. I need to do something with almonds this year. Maybe almond CAKE? (grin)

Cassondra said...

You know really I think we tipped the odds in cake's favor when we took out pumpkin pie. I didn't mean to do that. I just couldn't give up my favorite dessert for sake of competition. (sigh I am weak that way)

But I thought pie would win easily. I just see so dang many PIES. PIES EVERYWHERE at Christmas. When I was a kid, I saw cakes. But everybody I know makes PIE. And I miss cake at Christmas when I don't have it.

Cassondra said...

Dianna Love said:

Since you knocked out my all time favorite - pumpkin anything, but I do love the pie - I'll go with cake. I like German Chocolate and a really simple one - white cake with chocolate icing.


Ha! I knew you were my long-lost sister. Except I like Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing. And yes, Pumpkin anything is also my favorite.

Cassondra said...

Christine Wells said:
I had a hard time with this one, and I only broke the tie by thinking of the absolute very best pie I have ever tasted (caramel tart? does that count as pie? In Oz if it doesn't have a pastry cover it's called a tart)

Yes, I think indeed, tarts would have to count as pie. They are in a pie shell most often it seems. As opposed to cheesecake, which is cooked in a springform CAKE pan (looks over shoulder at Jeanne). And a Caramel tart is amazing. WE have a lot of caramel PIE here at Christmas. And I admit that it is very good. It does not displace cake for me though.

If you get red velvet cake, you must get a homemade one by somebody who's good at it. They are not all created equal. And a mix simply will not do.

Cassondra said...

Christine, OMG, that marsala spongecake looks amazing! Anything with mascarpone cheese is usually a winner. And marsala is wonderful, so the two combined....wow.

Cassondra said...

a.k.a. Dianna said:

I am going to have to go with cake on this one, my mother made a German chocolate from scratch and I would do my best to make it fall so I could have the cake without icing, yeah, I know, I was a brat but I don't like coconut. (Geez ladies, stop throwing things at me!) And you are right, lots and lots of eggs went into the making of that recipe. Warm, soft and light, melt in your mouth chocolate, what could be better?

OH, it seems German Chocolate is tipping the scales again. And Dianna, do you have your mom's recipe? I wonder if it is the same as my grandmother's?

Cassondra said...

Deb Marlowe said:

How about trifle? That's my fave--and it's really a mix of the two, with it's cake and pudding layers!


OOOOOO...trifle is WONDERFUL. And I would claim it for the side of cake, but you're right. It's not really. It needs a bowl to hold it up. Cake does not. It may even be more like...OMG...PIE.

And Deb...you were the rebel yesterday too..You and your beefy noodles. Don't think we've forgotten that, missy. ;0)

Cassondra said...

Gillian Layne said:

Fruitcake! When it's well done, it's heaven on earth. I love the look on my husband's face when I bring home our favorite fruitcake, made in Beatrice, Nebraska. We used to live very close to them.

http://www.beatricebakery.com/

A slice of fruitcake and hot tea--perfect!

I would like to try this. I don't like fruitcake as a rule, BUT the fruitcake from the Collin Street Bakery in Texas I DO like. And would buy one if I could ever get my act together to get the thing ordered. I now wonder if I would like the one from your Nebraska bakery!

Wonder if there's such a thing as a worldwide fruitcake competition?

Cassondra said...

Joanie said:

I guess I'd have to go with...cake (sorry Duchesse)mainly because I am NOT a good pie maker.

I AM a good Cake baker :-)

I really don't have a signature dessert for any holiday though. I did make a deep chocolate and Grand Marnier cake for my work Christmas party.



OH, Grand Marnier! YUMMM.

As to baking. Here's the truth. I think cake is more easily mastered than pie. I don't know that this is true, but getting pie crust right, much like getting biscuits right, is not an easy thing and takes practice. Good cakes take some practice too, but they seem to be more consistent to me if you simply follow the directions. Pie crust is not that way. It won't always turn out the same twice in a row if you do exactly the same thing (or at least this has been my experience). There are little tricks you have to learn.

It is my theory that this pie crust thing is what has given those nasty layered cookie bar thingies such a boost at the holidays. No crust involved.

Cassondra said...

Barbara Monajem said:

Mince pie! *** is my absolute fave. Cake is all very well, but I almost always choose pie

OOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You LIKE mince pie???!!!!

But here's the deal. If you put meat in it, it's no longer dessert in my opinion. That's my opinion and I'm stickin to it. (grin).

As to the cherry slice bars. Yes, I remember something from long ago like that, and those could be excused. But I'm thinkin your mom did not take every sweet thing in the kitchen, moosh it into a pan together, and call it dessert. I'm thinkin hers were a tad more sophisticated than that.

It's the moosh-together faux-homemade dessert phenomenon which I rally against.

LEt us know how you like the mince pie with meat in it will you? See, when I read about mince pie, I always think of a meat pie because I had one in England a long time ago. I didn't like it, but yours might be excellent.

Cassondra said...

Barbara said:

And because I was on the road most of yesterday and didn't get back in time to reply, yes, I spelled turducken wrong. You can buy turduckens (a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey) and even turporkens (turkey, pork loin and chicken, which is probably the closest you'll get to a turkey/ham compromise) at lacrawfish.com or cajunmeats.com



Now THAT is interesting. I know so little of cajun food. I'm going to have to look this up. What do you bet there's a video on youtube?

Cassondra said...

PJ said:

If I could only have one cake for the rest of my life it would be German Chocolate. I love it!

BUT, you did say Christmas dessert and (sorry, Cassondra) that has to be pecan pie. I just can't imagine a Christmas without one.


It's alright, my sister. Your kinship is proven by your love of German Chocolate Cake.

Cassondra said...

Deb said:

Cassondra, to make you feel better, I love carrot cake and pumpkin roll. Served carrot cake at our wedding reception because my entire family loves it so much.


It's okay Deb. I accept your solace at the loss of a vote for cake. ;0) Anybody who loves carrot cake can't be all bad.

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

*sniffle* Et tu, Dianna?

Hey, at least you admitted that if Pumpkin were in the running, you'd go for PIE!!!!



Hey, that's why it had to be pulled. If Pumpkin Pie were in the running I'd have to go for Pie too! THat was the whole trouble. If it were not pulled out, there would be no blog. ;0)

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

Okay, Cassondra, Christine's vote for cake is null and void. She's never even HEARD of some of these pies, so she can't be a vote for Team Cake.

You know. She doesn't know what's she's missing, right? So...no vote.

Grins.



Yeah, yeah, I suppose you're right. But her recipe for marsala spongecake....OMG, did you SEE THAT?

Cassondra said...

Janga said:

My choice is based more on sentiment than taste though. Some of my earliest Christmas memories are of my mother and grandmother baking from-scratch Christmas cakes that they only made once a year--Lane cake, orange cake, yellow cake with pecan fudge frosting . . .


You know...this is a big part of it for me too. The GermanChocolate is not only my favorite, but it's a family tradition to which I cling even when nobody else in the family does. And the Red Velvet was STeve's family tradition. I ALWAYS ALWAYS make pumpkin pie and it is simply not the holidays without that. But as you said, with lives so dang busy, and only getting extra special desserts once a year, the fancier layer cakes get shifted to the holidays. So it's partly the fond memories and the love which surrounds these desserts that makes me fall to the side of cake.

Cassondra said...

P226 said:

THE CAKE IS A LIE!

PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE PIE

PIE!

Pumpkin pake of course, is the universe imploding hybrid.

But no. No cake. PIE!



Hmmm....Strong feelings for Pie, Jeanne. I think maybe he should get two votes.....

Cassondra said...

Drew said:

But, I will shock myself and my family and go with cake. Yes...cake.

Some years back I started making a 2 layer cake for Xmas called 'Amazin' Raisin Cake' I forget where I found the recipe, it is now tradition.

Lots of spices, chopped apples and walnuts, and raisins! Cream cheese icing! *drool* It is heavy (like a fruit cake) moist, rich and decadent.

CAKE!!!! CAKE!! CAKE!!!!


Ah...these heavy cake desserts...they only come out at Christmas. The rest of the year they live in our memories. EVEN at the Fourth of July, dead in the middle of summer, you'll see pie all around. But Cake? Nope. It rises only at the Holidays. Maybe because diets get suspended then, and there's just something sinfully decadent about a cake.

Cassondra said...

Hellion said:

I'm sorry, Cass, but I'm clearly on the side of Pie here. (Though that line from TO THE NINES by Evanovich comes to mind when Ranger is asked if he'd like a piece of pie and he says, "They don't serve the kind of pie I like here." Anyway...)


Ah, Hellion, you have gone to the dark side. (hangs head) But that's okay. And as to the Ranger comment..I suspect that is the same reasoning behind P226's choice for Pie. Just sayin....

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

And I think your rules need refining. Cake and frosting do not necessarily go together. Take pound cake, for example. Or Mrs. P226's recipe (was it pake?), which P226 shared with us at Thanksgiving and which was not frosted.

Now, if frosting figures into the equation, I'm a cake person. If we're talking eating the food as it comes from the pan, then it has to be pie.


Tsk tsk tsk. Nancy, Nancy Nancy. Your LAWYER is showing. ;0)

That is the most eloquent form of fence sitting I believe I've ever seen.

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

WOOT! I'm on a pie (as opposed to a roll!)!!! Woohoo, PJ!

See!? Finally, some pie lovers check in.


SNORK.

Ah...I was overconfident. But I hvae a new theory. Cake eaters don't sleep. They're up in the middle of the night and the wee hours. The pie eaters are day walkers.

Cassondra said...

Virginia said:

am more a cake, cookie, or brownie person myself! All that chocolate goodness of a nice chewy brownie, you just can't beat that! A nice soft warn chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. Hmmmmm!


Haha! She said CAKE! She's MINE MINE MINE! Virginia, come back to the side of the light, fluffy, risen CAKE honey. Those brownies and cookies...they are just...flat.

Hellie Sinclair said...

Come now, if Ranger was in question, wouldn't you come to the dark side with pie too?

(Perhaps I was underprivileged though. Mom never baked cakes. She baked pies though. Maybe it's a nurturing thing. *LOL*)

Pecan Pie is the bomb though.

Cassondra said...

Lime said:

Cake! Cake cake cake cake cake!
Cake!


High Five Lime!

Cassondra said...

Cybercliper said:

Wow, this blog open up and 5 pounds got added to each hip!!! No indecision here - it's CAKE all the way...chocolate, lemon, coconut, cheesecake, pound, cup, or bundt - love cake! I'll catch up with the results later. I'm going to the kitchen...gotta taste for Angel Food cake.



Oh, DANG! I forgot about Angel Food Cake! Yummmmmmm.

p226 said...

Tsk tsk tsk. Nancy, Nancy Nancy. Your LAWYER is showing. ;0)

That is the most eloquent form of fence sitting I believe I've ever seen.
..

Ahahaha, no, lawyers tend to take a side, and then present a barrage of logical and emotional supporting arguments for that position.

Nono, Nancy is not acting lawyerly in her assessment. She's acting like a former lawyer. More commonly known as .... a politician. :P

If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding from Nancy in a secure undisclosed location.

p226 said...

Anyone apart from Nancy, that is.

Cassondra said...

Jo said:

Oh my goodness, another food topic??!! I'm gaining weight even as I read.

For the holidays, pumpkin pie (noting the exclusion) and nothing else will quite do it.

For ALL other occasions, I fall firmly on the cake side -- yummmy coconut cakes and creme-filled cakes and German chocolate cakes and strawberry shortcakes.

Hmmm, I'm off to do some baking!



Jo, now that's fence-sitting. I see what you did there. ;0) If it can't be pumkin, you're not voting, eh?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Yeah, yeah, I suppose you're right. But her recipe for marsala spongecake....OMG, did you SEE THAT?

Oh, heck yeah! Gorgeous thing...wonder how hard it is to make?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Hey, that's why it had to be pulled. If Pumpkin Pie were in the running I'd have to go for Pie too! THat was the whole trouble. If it were not pulled out, there would be no blog. ;0)

Yep. Pumpking ANYTHING rules! Love that stuff. :>

Cassondra said...

Hellion said:

Come now, if Ranger was in question, wouldn't you come to the dark side with pie too?


Well, I always fall on the side of Ranger in the Stephanie Plum debates, and I haven't read nearly the whole series. Still, I am a fan of Ranger. So yes, where Ranger is involved, it would sway me toward...dangi..Pie.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Hmmm....Strong feelings for Pie, Jeanne. I think maybe he should get two votes.....

WOOT!! Two votes! Thanks P226! (Even if its a game reference. Grins.)

Cassondra said...

P226 said:

Ahahaha, no, lawyers tend to take a side, and then present a barrage of logical and emotional supporting arguments for that position.

Nono, Nancy is not acting lawyerly in her assessment. She's acting like a former lawyer. More commonly known as .... a politician. :P


Hmmm...I do believe I might have to agree with you on that one. I shall look squinty eyed at Nancy when next I see her. To make certain she's not running for office or something.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said to Nancy: That is the most eloquent form of fence sitting I believe I've ever seen.

Ohhh yeah. Had to LOL about her "Lawyer" showing. Grins.

Cassondra said...

P226 said:

Anyone apart from Nancy, that is.

Nancy had the GR a couple of days ago. NExt time you get him, you better check him for bugs....

Just sayin....

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: The pie eaters are day walkers.

SNORK!!!

Too funny...

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Ms Hellion said: Come now, if Ranger was in question, wouldn't you come to the dark side with pie too?

SOooooo true. Hahahah!

Cassondra said...

C'mon, CAKE! WE need more votes for CAKE!

CAKE, CAKE, CAKE!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: More commonly known as .... a politician. :P

If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding from Nancy in a secure undisclosed location.


HAHAHAHAHA!!! Snork.

You can run, but really, from The Very Bad Bandita? You cannot hide.

SNORK!!!

p226 said...

Nancy had the GR a couple of days ago. NExt time you get him, you better check him for bugs......

I've um... I've never had to check a rooster for bugs before. Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Still, I am a fan of Ranger. So yes, where Ranger is involved, it would sway me toward...dangi..Pie.

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!

Snork. Love it. I'm a major Ranger fan too. :>

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*


Oh, now THERE's a scary visual....

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Definitely no fence-sitting for me today -- CAKE!!! Especially CHEESECAKE!!! Though if we are going with everyday cake, I'll pick devil's food with chocolate frosting and a big scoop of rocky road ice cream on the side.

Sorry Duchesse, but pie just does not cut it. I'll eat cobbler, but most pie I can easily take a pass. I did LOL about you eating collard greens with pecan pie, however! WAY TO WIN THE BET!

AC
P.S. Mariska, congrats on the GR... AGAIN!

Cassondra said...

Madame, I just printed out the recipe for your marsala sponge cake. What is castor sugar?

Cassondra said...

P226 said:

I've um... I've never had to check a rooster for bugs before. Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*


SNORK! A cavity check on a rooster. Now THERE's an interesting pun-type visual....

Cassondra said...

Aunty Cindy said:

Definitely no fence-sitting for me today -- CAKE!!! Especially CHEESECAKE!!! Though if we are going with everyday cake, I'll pick devil's food with chocolate frosting and a big scoop of rocky road ice cream on the side.



Ha! Another vote for CAKE!

Anna Sugden said...

Late to the party ... umm ... fight, but we have both over here. Mince pies/tarts and Christmas cake and/or Yule Log. To make things even trickier, we also have Christmas pudding *g*. But, since I'm not a fan of Chritmas pudding, we can let that one slide.

If forced to choose, I'm going to have to go with mince pies. Mmmm.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Yipppeee! Anna is for PIE!!! Grins.

Can't wait till the OTHER Anna checks in and see if we split the vote or if Anna = PIE!

Grins.

Beth Andrews said...

Another cake fan here! But I also love cookies and bar thingies *g* One year I had toffee-caramel bars instead of cake. Yummy!!

:-)

Cassondra said...

Anna Sugden said:

If forced to choose, I'm going to have to go with mince pies. Mmmm.


*Hangs head*

Ah well...I admit that I am entranced by this mince pie following. The one I had was...well..just sort of gross. :0/

Maybe I didn't have a good one?

Cassondra said...

Beth said:

Another cake fan here! But I also love cookies and bar thingies *g* One year I had toffee-caramel bars instead of cake. Yummy!!


YAY BETH IS ON TEAM CAKE!

Okay even if the vote is somewhat tarnished by the inclusion of the dessert bar interloper....

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Oh man, AC and Beth, you're desserting me! (Harharhar!)

Toffee? hmmmm, Beth, what's in those?

Nancy said...

Cybercliper wrote: Wow, this blog open up and 5 pounds got added to each hip!!!

See, this is my point!

One of them, anyway.

Nancy said...

Cassondra and PinkPeony have waxed eloquent over tiramisu and trifle, both of which I love--but which were not specified choices, alas. On my birthday, we go out to a local restaurant that serves tiramisu as big as my face. I just hyphenate all that and refer to it thus, the description being entirely accurate.

Terri Osburn said...

CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE!!!!

That is all.

Nancy said...

I do not believe I have ever seen my name appear so often in comments on days when I wasn't the bandita in residence. Alas that the comments do not reflect the proper appreciation for my key contribution to today's dicussion. *sigh*

p226 wrote (after certain banditas made disparaging comments about my wish for precise definitions in order to make an informed choice): Nono, Nancy is not acting lawyerly in her assessment. She's acting like a former lawyer. More commonly known as .... a politician. :P

If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding from Nancy in a secure undisclosed location.

You better hide, p226. You and certain mocking banditas who started this contest but now denigrate the importance of precision. Who can't tell the difference between precision and fence-sitting, who--well, never mind! *nose-in-air-sniff*

Because I could go on at great length about the importance of precisely defining terms. In fact, I have been known to do so. Bwahahahaha!

In other words, yes, I actually can talk all of you to death, and the GR, too. Just ask him about that little lecture on not playing with other people's super-hero action figures.

However, you may all be safe. I have students to torture by making up an exam. :-)

p226 said...

Ok, I'm in my secure undisclosed location laughing really hard.

Deb Marlowe said...

Cassondra:

Beefy noodles and trifle...

I love being a rebel!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Yes,tiramisu is brilliant, isn't it, Nancy?

Lovvvvve that stuff!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Terri! SNORK!

Ah, Cassondra, you've got another vote for Team CAKE!

Enid Wilson said...

Cake for me any time. A cake is worth a thousand pies.

Steamy Darcy

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: certain mocking banditas who started this contest but now denigrate the importance of precision. Who can't tell the difference between precision and fence-sitting, who--well, never mind! *nose-in-air-sniff*

Heeheehee. Cassondra, I guess that's us. The Mocking Banditas. As Dave Barry would say, it sounds like a great name for a rock band. SNORK!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy ALSO said: Just ask him about that little lecture on not playing with other people's super-hero action figures.

Man, oh, man I TALKED to him about that. He should know better. :>

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: Ok, I'm in my secure undisclosed location laughing really hard.

SNORK!! Ohhhh, yeah.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Sigh. Drat Enid, I was hoping for another Pie vote. Sigh.

And yet, you go Team Cake.

Sigh.

pjpuppymom said...

Jeanne said...Hey, PJ, do you have pecan trees in your neck of the woods? My family in Georgia used to send us boxes of pecans. Alas, they moved...sigh.

Nope. I get mine from Georgia too, Jeanne.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Ahhh, Georgia pecans. Gotta find me a new source now that the relates have moved to Florida. :>

Cassondra said...

Nancy wrote:

certain mocking banditas who started this contest but now denigrate the importance of precision.

Nancy, do not be miffed. It is my premise that dessert is not a particularly precise thing. While the MAKING of said desserts may require precision, the definition of what one is.....*sigh* I started to try to define cake from pie in the blog itself, and decided against it. I kept Cheesecake firmly on my side because it's made in a springform CAKE pan. Not in a pie pan. However, when you get into items like Boston Cream PIE...well...dangit...it's a cake, really. A cake with pudding in it. Yaknow...dessert really does defy precise definition. Thus my falling back on descriptions such as dessert bar thingies...which of course also disses them into their proper NON CAKE OR PIE position...well below the pinnacle of true unadulterated dessert-ness.

Cassondra said...

Deb said:

Beefy noodles and trifle...

I love being a rebel!




It does bring a certain satisfying feeling, doesn't it?

Cassondra said...

TerriOsburn said:

CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE!!!!

That is all.



(very wide grin)

Cassondra said...

Enid Wilson said:

Cake for me any time. A cake is worth a thousand pies.


Yay! The coffin sleeping cake eaters have awakened! It's a late-afternoon rush for the CAKE!

Now as to the cake being worth a thousand pies, I'd have to say it depends on the cake and it depends on the pie...but I'm with you in the rallying cry....

Pumpkin still trumps all though....

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Casssondra said: Pumpkin still trumps all though....

As usual, my Evil Twin, we do agree on this. :>

I also quite agree with you that most desserts defy definition. Take the aforementioned pumpkin pie. I mean really, it's a gourd. Pie from gourd. Hmmmm. Doesn't sound that appetizing, but you add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger...well, then you have PIE!!!

And boston creme, you're right on that one.

But springform cake pan or not, you have to admit that cheesecake bears a striking resemblance to PIE! You cut it in wedges. It usually has a crust - graham crackers constitute a crust! - and it's dense and pie-like.

Grins.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

BTW, perhaps next year we should just plan an Ode to Pumpkin Pie then we could both sing the everlasting praises of the aforementioned gourd. :>

(Oh, and frequently mention cinnamon which is what makes it seriously good pumpkin pie!)

PinkPeony said...

Beefy noodles and trifle? Is that a kind of kugel dessert? Recipe?

I have to agree with Cassondra...cake eaters are late night owls.

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

Jeanne said:And Dianna, do you have your mom's recipe? I wonder if it is the same as my grandmother's?

I think it was the recipe from the wrapper of German Sweet Chocolate cos I couldn't find anything written down.

Pat Cochran said...

It's pies for me! But must have pies
and cakes for the family gatherings!
Or else I'll be run out of town!!

Pat Cochran

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Geesh y'all!!

Okay...for pie, I have to have one slice of my mama's pecan pie. No one else's will do, and since I'm in Texas and she's in Ohio...NO PIE for us.

If I had my druthers on cake it would be this lovely Italian wedding cake my friend in Florida makes every Christmas and brought to work. Yummo. BUT since she's in Florida and I'm in Texas...NO CAKE for us.

We have Buckeyes and various home made cookies for desert. (Although I do have a new recipe for triple chocolate cheese cake I'm tempted to try this year.)

So, there you have it, I'm odd-man-out once again!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

OH Gail, you should try my daughter's CARAMEL Apple pie! It's a hit at Thanksgiving every year!

Cassondra said...

a.k.a. Dianna said:

I think it was the recipe from the wrapper of German Sweet Chocolate cos I couldn't find anything written down.


Dianna, I think that was me, and I was wondering if it was the recipe from the wrapper. The thing is that my grandmother had an old, tattered wrapper from about 1930. She said that sometime since then, they changed the recipe, and the new recipe was not as good. And sure enough, when I make one from a wrapper from the 60s (which my mom had) it's NOT any good. They reduced the number of eggs and such to try to be politically correct according to the new health rules.

Hey. If I'm eating a freakin German Chocolate Cake, I am clearly busting my diet. I only get it once a year. don't need HEALTHY cake!

So I am afer that OLD recipe. The wrapper from my grandmother has since been lost. :0(

Cassondra said...

Pat said:

It's pies for me! But must have pies
and cakes for the family gatherings!
Or else I'll be run out of town!!



Pat, you break my heart! *sigh* Okay. ANother vote for pie. Jeanne has run off to the Christmas Tree Lighting, but will likely be on again later. She'll be happy you have gone over to Team Pie....

Cassondra said...

Suz, I DO like Buckeyes actually, but they are neither cake nor pie nor cookie (thank God) and therefore your vote is still outstanding......

What is it with you and wedding cake though? You are clearly an afficianado of wedding cake. The TExas kind with the raspberry filling and buttercream icing...and now an ITALIAN wedding cake?

We have Italian Cream Cakes up here. OMG. They are SOOOOO good.

Cassondra said...

Oh and Suz, if you make the Chocolate Cheesecake for Christmas, I am dragging you forcibly over to TEAM CAKE YAY!

(grin)

Nancy said...

p226 wrote: Ok, I'm in my secure undisclosed location laughing really hard.

Go ahead and laugh. Feel free. Just remember, she who laughs last . . .

And I could never be a politican, really. I can do the verbal dance, I admit, but every once in a while, usually at the most inopportune time, honesty slips through. Usually in the form of sarcasm. *sigh*

Lady_Graeye said...

I choose cakes. You are making me hungry, all of them look wonderful. I love Angelfood, Wedding, Red Veelvet, Double Chocolate...yum, I could just keep going on and on...

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: It is my premise that dessert is not a particularly precise thing.

Nice try, Cassondra. Hah!

Nancy said...

Jeanne wrote: "Nancy ALSO said: Just ask him about that little lecture on not playing with other people's super-hero action figures.

Man, oh, man I TALKED to him about that. He should know better. :>"

Yeah, well, nice try to you, too. He got the Legion of Super-Heroes all out of order and was flapping around the house with Mon-El in his talons. This would be very upsetting to our friend Judy, who is a huge Mon-El fan. Lucky she doesn't read the blog.

The dog cornered the GR, and I rescued Mon-El, who, for those who have never had the joy of reading the Legion, has all the powers of Superman but is vulnerable to lead, not kryptonite, and really is pretty seriously hunky despite spending a thousand years in the Phantom Zone (very, very long story, which Judy and I and many others could tell you in extensive and nauseating detail--remember the talking to death thing).

Nancy said...

Just FYI, Mon-El's powers do not transfer to six-inch, plastic replicas, unfortunately for the action figure. The dog thinks there is a claw mark on his cape. :-(

There better not be, is all I'm sayin'.

Pat Cochran said...

So sorry, Cassondra! I'm a Texan
true, so I have to have the STATE
PIE OF TEXAS: PECAN PIE! Also have
to have mincemeat pie, it's the only time of the year that we make it! But if it will make you feel better, there's always my momma's FRUITCAKE! Baked three months before Christmas and basted quite frequently with liquor until the big day! Whenever I had to get something from the pantry, my
head would reel from the fumes!

Pat Cochran

Joan said...

There are little tricks you have to learn.

And one of them is where to buy the PIllsbury premade pie crusts
:-)

I know I'm about to rain on somebody's CAKE parade but two of the cakes I've never made nor do I care for are German Chocolate and Red Velvet.

Abhor coconut. Hate. It. And to me, all that red dye needed to make the Red Velvet cake Red leaves an aftertaste. Blech.

Now, as to liquor...any cake tastes good with that! (hic)

Joan said...

P226 said: I've um... I've never had to check a rooster for bugs before. Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*


ROFLMAO.......

(sobers) Yes.

catslady said...

Very hard question lol. Since I only get one vote - have to go with cake :)although there are quite a few great pies out there lol. The only cake I don't like is if it has coconut on top - white cake with almond flavoring and a layer of berry cream and a whipped butter icing or chocolate for two of my favorites.

Joan said...

Ok, I'm in my secure undisclosed location laughing really hard.

Not so secure. Nancy's arrowing in on you....somewhere in West Virginia...

Just sayin'

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Cassondra said: What is it with you and wedding cake though?...

Uh....I'm a ROMANCE writer, and therefore very big on weddings, and especially wedding cakes...hehehe...infact the only cookie my hubby requests at Christmas is...

MEXICAN WEDDING CAKES!

As for the cheesecake, I'm with Jeanne on that, it feels too much like a dense PIE to me!

Tawny said...

P226 said: I've um... I've never had to check a rooster for bugs before. Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*


*snort* OMGOMGOMG toooo funny.

Rolling in the blog aisles here laughing. What a visual... that poor bird *g*

Suzanne Ferrell said...

P226 said: I've um... I've never had to check a rooster for bugs before. Are there places I should check besides the feathers?

*snapping a latex glove*
...

You know, my gloves never snap...perhaps because they're latex free?

Here's some KY to uh, help debug the bird!

Joan said...

Point of clarification: it is NOT the state of KY to which Suz refers....

Just sayin'

Louisa Cornell said...

Okay, so I got here. Saw how many posts there were. Knew there would be a really great gastronomical discussion. Scrolled to the bottom and found a discussion of ... A Golden Rooster Proctology Exam?!?!

This group can take more twists and turns than a Boardwalk roller coaster! Sheesh!

And while I do love my Mom's Lane Cake and her Japanese Fruit Cake for the holidays (she will do both for Christmas! YAY!) I have to say that the one dessert my brothers and I fight over, snatch the entire thing and run around the house screaming Mine! Mine! Mine! over is the recipe that has been in the family for over 100 years. My MawMaw (full-blooded Creek Indian) Jones's CHOCOLATE PIE !!!!

A flaky pastry crust that is as delicate as the finest Irish lace hanky. Chocolate cream filling mixed from scratch that is as rich and dark and DELICIOUS as an Anna Campbell hero. Light fluffy meringue top with the staying power and grace of a Christine Wells heroine. What can I say, except


I WANT PIE !!!!!!!

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

I admit, but every once in a while, usually at the most inopportune time, honesty slips through. Usually in the form of sarcasm. *sigh*


And this would be why we love you. ;0)

Cassondra said...

Lady Graeye said:

I choose cakes. You are making me hungry, all of them look wonderful. I love Angelfood, Wedding, Red Veelvet, Double Chocolate...yum, I could just keep going on and on...



YESSSS!!! A decided vote for CAKE!

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

Just FYI, Mon-El's powers do not transfer to six-inch, plastic replicas, unfortunately for the action figure. The dog thinks there is a claw mark on his cape. :-(

There better not be, is all I'm sayin'.



Mon-El is allergic to lead? Next time the Gr comes over, hide all the pencils in the house.

Is Mon-El allergic to....CAKE???? BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Cassondra said...

Pat Cochran said:

So sorry, Cassondra! I'm a Texan
true, so I have to have the STATE
PIE OF TEXAS: PECAN PIE! Also have
to have mincemeat pie, it's the only time of the year that we make it!


Ah, well..it is inevitable that SOME people will fall to the dark...er...the PIE side. As to fruitcake...I like certain ones--the ones which are more nuts than those little candy pieces. The ones which are heavy on the little candy pieces--I don't like those. Of course, given enough liquor, I might not care!

Cassondra said...

Joanie said:

I know I'm about to rain on somebody's CAKE parade but two of the cakes I've never made nor do I care for are German Chocolate and Red Velvet.


Humph. And I say again...HUmph. Of course, if you don't like coconut, the German Chocolate is gonna be a bust. The coconut-pecan frosting is the shizzle. I will admit that I have had some very BAD red velvet cakes. But when it is good, it is SO good.

Cassondra said...

catslady said:
Very hard question lol. Since I only get one vote - have to go with cake :)although there are quite a few great pies out there lol. The only cake I don't like is if it has coconut on top - white cake with almond flavoring and a layer of berry cream and a whipped butter icing or chocolate for two of my favorites.



Ah, you're another who won't like my German Chocolate. Too much coconut.

Now your white-almond-berry-cream cake with butter icing sounds phenomenal. Do you have a recipe for that?

Cassondra said...

Louisa said:

A flaky pastry crust that is as delicate as the finest Irish lace hanky. Chocolate cream filling mixed from scratch that is as rich and dark and DELICIOUS as an Anna Campbell hero. Light fluffy meringue top with the staying power and grace of a Christine Wells heroine. What can I say, except


LOUISA NO!!...well...you can almost be forgiven for siding with PIE because of that description. Yes, if it's that good, go for it. And save me a piece, will you?

Tour Maestra said...

You two are way too hilarious, I love this fight!!!

I love cake AND pie! Apple Pie, two thumbs up, can eat a whole one easily!

Little heads up: THE BEST cakes in LA: Kiss My Bundt Bakery (kissmybundt.net); My friend Chrysta Wilson's new cookbook just out &, they ship!

LOVE you Bandits, keep up the banter!

Nancy said...

Joan wrote: Not so secure. Nancy's arrowing in on you....somewhere in West Virginia...

Joan! You weren't supposed to tellhim!

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: Is Mon-El allergic to....CAKE???? BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No. Mon-El loves cake, if it has icing, especially chocolate with chocolate icing. Or buttercream direct from the bowl.

And he is now protected from lead by a serum Brainiac 5 (from the planet Colu) devised in the 30th century, leading to Mon-El's release from the Phantom Zone. So pencils are no threat.

According to Judy, Mon-El also loves rye bread.

Cassondra also wrote: And this [the sarcasm thing] would be why we love you. ;0)

Thank you, C. :-)

Nancy said...

chelleyreads wrote: congrats on the GR mariska. i don't know how y'all do it. i always seem to be 4-5 minutes late.

It's purely luck. The odds will run in your favor one of these days! We all appreciate the rooster's popularity and our buddies' interest in him.

Nancy said...

Anna Sugden, I actually like Christmas pudding--especially if I can have brandy butter on it (the equivalent of icing, as pudding is sort of cake-like). Absent brandy butter, vanilla ice cream or whipped cream will do.

Nancy said...

Suz, your wedding cake fascination got us that yummy GR cake for the San Francisco conference. Speaking of buttercream frosting . . .

Joan said...

Joan! You weren't supposed to tellhim!

No, see Nancy....I'm testing him. Does he believe we are bluffing? Will he stay hidden or try to move to a new location? Does he think we won't know????

Well do ya p226?

(sly smile)Have some pake.....

p226 said...

No, see Nancy....I'm testing him. Does he believe we are bluffing? Will he stay hidden or try to move to a new location? Does he think we won't know????

Well do ya p226?


To answer that question would violate opsec.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Louisa said: CHOCOLATE PIE !!!!

A flaky pastry crust that is as delicate as the finest Irish lace hanky. Chocolate cream filling mixed from scratch that is as rich and dark and DELICIOUS as an Anna Campbell hero. Light fluffy meringue top with the staying power and grace of a Christine Wells heroine. What can I say, except I WANT PIE !!!!!!!



OMGosh! Louisa! My Sister Duchess! YES!!! An AYE for PIE!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: To answer that question would violate opsec.

SNORK!!! OMGosh. How...appropriate.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Suz and JT - the KY comments....SNORK!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy, I'm so glad to know that Mon-El has nothing to fear from pencils. I can now rest easy, and I'm sure Herself can as well.

I can, however, see why she was miffed that the GR might have left a mark on Mon-El on her watch. :>

Cassondra said...

Tour Maestra said:

Little heads up: THE BEST cakes in LA: Kiss My Bundt Bakery (kissmybundt.net); My friend Chrysta Wilson's new cookbook just out &, they ship!


OOOOO....thanks for the heads up!

*sigh* I'm thinking Jeanne is going to claim you for TEAM PIE though, since you bragged so hard on Apple. Ah well......

catslady said...

Just checked back, sorry I don't have a recipe for the cake I mentioned. I have had it at weddings though and there is a wonderful bakery near by that makes it and you can buy just a piece :)