Cake Versus Pie Plus What Food Couldn't You Live Without?

Drat! This isn't what I wanted to write about. I have so much to tell you about the great food we had in California, but THIS has a time element, so I have to post this now. California later...

From Jezebel.com

I am so mad that this was only brought to my attention today. It’s a March Madness Tournament pitting the best cake choices against the best pies in the land. How great is that?!!

Apparently, voting has been going on to coincide with the real March Madness and right now we are left with 4 choices – 2 in the pie family and 2 in the cake family.

Here’s the explanation of the contest and how it worked. WHY, oh, why didn’t I see this before?!! I LOVE PIE! I LOVE CAKE! (I love pie more.)

I’m unhappy, though, because I profoundly disagree with the results so far, which means that I won’t be happy with the champion of the entire big dance of desserts.

Take a look at the initial brackets here and see if you agree with the results up to now. Not only do I NOT agree with the winners in many of the groups, I don’t agree with the positioning of certain cakes and pies in the brackets to begin with.

I don’t think two world class pies like Pumpkin and Lemon Meringue should have been pitted against each other early on. I think they should have met further down the line.

Plus how in the world did French Silk, which most people don’t even know is a vaguely chocolate pie (the point of which I’ve never understood) beat out Cherry Pie?!!

At this point, the contest is between German Chocolate Cake and Red Velvet Cake on the cake side of the draw, and Apple Pie versus Cheesecake (characterized as a ‘pie” here, because it has a crust) on the pie side.

If I had been heavily involved as a booster for my favorite choice of pie or cake, this Final Four travesty would never have happened.

Oh my, have I discovered the passion that basketball fanatics feel during March Madness? Is it possible they feel as passionate about Kentucky State (I’m making that up. I have no idea if there even IS a Kentucky State) versus Las Vegas Community College (likewise, no idea…) as I do about Sweet Potato Pie versus Key Lime Pie. (For the record, I think the finer pie won here – the Key Lime.)

I’m not quite as impassioned about the cake side of the draw, but I believe the final four cakes should have been Birthday Cake (I suppose they mean any layered moist cake with a buttercream type icing), Carrot Cake, Ice Cream Cake and…actually, the last one is tricky. I guess Black Forest. Then I would have culled that to Ice Cream Cake (WHO doesn’t LOVE Ice Cream Cake?) and Carrot (I think).

The pies? The final four should have been Apple, Blueberry, Cherry and Pumpkin. I guess the final 2 would have to be Apple and Cherry.

The supreme winner between Ice Cream Cake, Carrot Cake, Apple Pie and Cherry Pie? Oy, that’s a tough one. I choose Ice Cream Cake. Not easy, but it offers the delights of something soft and creamy contrasted with a fine crumbed moist cake. Hopefully, there would also be something crunchy in there and NO, I’m not ONLY thinking of Carvel Ice Cream Cakes, but they are pretty close to perfect. See? I’m not always a snob.

You can vote in the poll at the end of this post.

One Shining Moment: March Madness, Cakes vs. Pies from Jezebel on Vimeo.

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This also reminds me of one of my favorite car trip (or just being bored) games of all time - Which Would You Rather Have? Now stick with me here a minute while I explain.

The point is to pick which of two things you'd prefer to eat. They should be from two entirely different categories...like Blueberry Pie or Spaghetti and Meatballs. The game is complicated by the rule that the food you DON’T pick you can never have again. So the question actually becomes “Which food could you live without?”

Funnily enough, after going through multiple choices and tons of food items, the one thing I was ALWAYS left with…the thing that I couldn’t excise from my diet forever…was…Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. Weird, huh? But just try this to see how it happens:

Here's a sample round of Which Would You Rather Have? Remember that also means you're never allowed to have the other one again. Ever.

Pad Thai or Roasted Green Beans?

Pad Thai.

Pad Thai or Blueberry Pie?

Blueberry Pie.

Blueberry Pie or Spaghetti Carbonara?

Blueberry Pie. Hmmm we have strong favorite here.

Blueberry Pie or Chicken Marbella?

Chicken Marbella.

Chicken Marbella or Vanilla ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream or Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice?

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. (I LOVE ice cream, but I really think I couldn't live without Fresh Orange Juice.)

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice or Chocolate Chip Cookies?

This does gives me pause, but when I think about being deprived of the tart, sweet freshness of just squeezed orange juice for EVER, I have to go with the OJ.

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice or Lobster Bisque?

Easy. OJ.

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice or Baked Alaska?

Pretty hard too, but I still have to go with the Orange Juice. And so on, until the same food keeps winning. THAT'S your top food of all time.

I’d love to know which food reigns supreme in your own Which Would You Rather Have? game.

What's interesting is that it often isn’t the food you would have thought. When you add the never-can-have-again element, it really changes things from the food that you love to eat the most at the moment (for me - ice cream, creamy pudding-y things, meringues, many Indian foods, like malai kofta) to something you can’t live without.

The other thing I love about this game is having to judge such unlikely things as Matzo Ball Soup against Brie with Honey drizzled over it. Okay, how about THAT one? I’ll take the Brie.