Cake or Pie? Take your pick

[sanrensho]

Conclusion: cheesecakes have crusts, therefore they're pie.

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Some baked cheesecakes don't have a bottom crust.

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Quite true. And I prefer cheesecake with a thin layer of biscuit (cake) underneath.

[Arey]

I'm in the cake camp.

I like pie, but find many, especially American-style fruit pies, to be gooey and wet. A waste of fruit.

Plus there's no frosting on pie, dammit.

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Dutch apple pie has frosting.

I have to cast a vote for cake. Going way back to my childhood, when everything was better, I showed a definite preference for Butterscotch Krimpets, followed by Chocolate Juniors, then Coconut Juniors (and I don't particularly care for coconut), and if none of them were available apple pies. I'm talking TastyKake mind you.

At bake sales, my mother would always ask if a cake was "made from scratch". There were rumors going around back then, that some women were actually contributing cakes to the cake sales that were made from MIXES (horrible dictu).

[Nina C.]

A question of such great importance has taken me all day and several water-cooler conversations with co-workers to ponder. At first, I thought pie, hands down. The crunch of the crust, followed by the softness of the filling can make me swoon. Not to mention the easy accompianment by ice cream,

Plus, pie is the food of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and large family gatherings.

But then, I realized that perhaps my bias is because there are way too many mediocre cakes out there in the world. Because pie takes more work, particularly with the proliferation of cake mixes out there, it seems that anyone who takes the time to make a pie, makes a pretty decent one.

And there is one cake that my mother used to make out of the San Antonio Junior League Flavors cookbook that I'd trade pie for any day -- a sponge cake I think, with a creamy icing, and shards of caramel candy and almonds dotting the top like a porcupine. See - contrast of textures! And another time-consuming labor of love.

So my final verdict is most pie over most cake, but excellent cake over excellent pie.

Is that too namby-pamby?

[NWKate]

What a dilemma! While I must come down on the side of cake( since I always make double chocolate cake with raspberry finning and mocha whipped cream frosting for my birthday), I also must put in another vote for the Farm Journal's Pie Cookbook- it has the most reliable recipes I've ever found. While one might argue that pies are more versatile given the number of both sweet, protein filled, and savory available, I still want cake for my birthday ( and, well, every day!).

Sweetly,

Kate

[Della]

PIE! No question about it - Pie everytime.

Cake is too cakey - too sweet - too much frosting. Although I like an occasional piece of cake w/o the frosting.

Give me fruit pie and I will happily eat it every day of the week - especially for breakfast!!

And Alton Brown is right about cheesecake which is just a custard pie

[natasha1270]

pat a cake, pat a cake...

baba cake, hotcake, johnny cake, pancake, king cake, doughnut, doughnut cake, gingerbread cake, fruit cake, wedding cake, christening cake, teacake, coffee cake, pound cake, cupcake, bundt cake, shortcake, biscuit, scone...

N., who wonders where would we be without cake?

[Pontormo]

Why does this all make me want to log out and bake oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate chips?

Ta.

[mizducky]

Conclusion: cheesecakes have crusts, therefore they're pie.

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Some baked cheesecakes don't have a bottom crust.

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In which case my statement about so-called "crustless pies" not really being pies applies. (How's that for internal rhyme? )

Edited to add--okay, I did not explicity state that "crustless pies" are not true pies. But the implication I left that such items were in fact some other category of foodstuff shows that I *meant* to say that. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Edited April 26, 2006 by mizducky (log)

[mizducky]

Conclusion: cheesecakes have crusts, therefore they're pie.

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Some baked cheesecakes don't have a bottom crust.

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Quite true. And I prefer cheesecake with a thin layer of biscuit (cake) underneath.

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If it's a discrete crust, it's crust. The composition is immaterial, the function is all.

Oh, and just in case anyone is tempted to go there ... no, the "crust" on bread does not mean bread == pie. Bread crust is not discrete, but an integral part of the loaf. It's simply bread dough that happened to be lucky enough to be on the surface of the loaf where it could get browning. Whereas a pie crust is of a different composition from the stuff it's containing/supporting, usually constructed by an entirely different process from that which created the filling it contains.

And now I just can't resist:

"Pie "R" square?!? Pies aren't square! Pies are round!"

(running away very fast )

Edited April 26, 2006 by mizducky (log)

[prasantrin]

Cake. I will almost always order cake over pie. But I have noticed that even the worst pies are still better than the worst cakes, so if I have an inkling that the cake is crappy, I'll take the pie. I definitely prefer cakes, though.

[hsm]

It's been a pleasure remembering lots of the lovely cakes I've consumed. And all those happy occasions that call for cake!

But for me, nothing beats a damn fine piece of pie.

[therese]

Although cheesecake typically includes a crust, I rarely find it very interesting: soggy cookie crumb sort of thing, easily ignored. A real pie includes crust that's important to the dessert.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Although cheesecake typically includes a crust, I rarely find it very interesting: soggy cookie crumb sort of thing, easily ignored. A real pie includes crust that's important to the dessert.

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Sounds to me like you've been good cheesecake/pie deprived. Soggy cookie crumb crusts? Bleah! The good ones have crusts you can hear snap when your fork gets into them.

[MissAmy]

THAT is a tough question! Oooh.. So, I guess the answer, "It depends on what kind of cake or pie," is not an option, correct?

In that case... I'll have to say cake. I'll NEVER turn down a peice of cake. However, I'm unlikely to turn down pie as well. But I still so dearly love a great peice of cake.

[Marlene]

Cake, most definately cake. My brother and I are in opposite camps as he prefers pie, raspberry to be specific. My mother always made pie, never cake. If I wanted a cake growing up, I made it myself Cakes can be elaborate structures, four layers of light airy goodness and frosting. They can be cupcakes and mini cakes.

I choose cake.

[Mike Hunt]

Pie, fruit. NOW.

[purplewiz]

Cake.

No question, hands down, not even a contest.

Pie's ok. I like pie. If pie's what's for dessert, I'll probably have some (assuming it's not cherry or lemon, which has less to do with the pie and more to do with the fact that I don't like cherries in any form and I don't like sweet lemon desserts). I've had ethereal coconut cream pah, made by someone's gramma in a diner in West Upper Buttcrack, Wyoming. My mother won contests with her pie.

I'll take mediocre cake over all of 'em.

Two reasons:

- Flourless chocolate cake. 'Nuff said.

- Frosting.

Ok, make it three - I also love the texture of cakes.

Marcia.

[rooftop1000]

Frosting usually comes with cake...so I choose cake. Although sometimes I dont bother and just eat the frosting.....

shame shame shame on me

tracey

[Mayhaw Man]

Cake, most definately cake.  My brother and I are in opposite camps as he prefers pie, raspberry to be specific.  My mother always made pie, never cake.  If I wanted a cake growing up, I made it myself   Cakes can be elaborate structures, four layers of light airy goodness and frosting.  They can be cupcakes and mini cakes.

I choose cake.

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I knew, I just knew.

I'll rest easy tonight. This vote, this single vote, was worth all of the senseless criticism from cake haters that cake lovers, clearly the more sophisticated, worldly group of the two, had to endure today.

Sleep well, Marlene. Sleep well. You, my dear, have a fan in New Orleans. Never doubt it.

[Mike Hunt]

Frosting usually comes with cake...so I choose cake. Although sometimes I dont bother and just eat the frosting.....

shame shame shame on me

tracey

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Frosting is a bit like cocktails, mostly enjoyed by women and the sexually ambiguous.

It's pies all the way.

Hand raised uncured pork pies

[Jason Perlow]

Okay, but what about FRIED PIES?

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/04...big-pie-videos/

[Mayhaw Man]

Okay, but what about FRIED PIES?

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/04...big-pie-videos/

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What about em? A pie's a pie. Fried, baked, boiled, broiled, broasted, roasted, braised, or burnt. Whatever.

Pies are still just a big pile of goo compared to a delicious, well thought out and executed cake. Cook those pies however you like. Eat some. Then look across the room at that guy with that big hunk of cake-that's the guy who will have the smile of the righteous on his face. He knows.

[Jensen]

Cake, most definately cake.  My brother and I are in opposite camps as he prefers pie, raspberry to be specific.  My mother always made pie, never cake.  If I wanted a cake growing up, I made it myself   Cakes can be elaborate structures, four layers of light airy goodness and frosting.  They can be cupcakes and mini cakes.

I choose cake.

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I knew, I just knew.

I'll rest easy tonight. This vote, this single vote, was worth all of the senseless criticism from cake haters that cake lovers, clearly the more sophisticated, worldly group of the two, had to endure today.

Sleep well, Marlene. Sleep well. You, my dear, have a fan in New Orleans. Never doubt it.

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Please forgive the excessive quoting but...

PUH-LEASE!

If this isn't the most self-congratulatory, masturbatory bit of cake crumb I've ever read, then I'll be a monkey's uncle!

(And, barring a trip to Sweden for the operation, I'm not anyone's uncle!)

And in case anyone is interested, I consider Boston cream pie to be the bastard child of a cake mother and a pie father...custard enclosed by a cake "crust".

In all seriousness, I do offer the following books as interesting PIE reads:

As Easy As Pie by Susan G. Purdy (someone with admin rights can feel free to amazonify that text)

This is a cookbook for nothing but pie...sweet, savoury, baked, fried. You name it, it's there. I've made probably half of the recipes out of this book and they are ALL good.

My other recommendation is "American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America's Back Roads" by Pascale le Daroulec.

(Again, please amazonify that if you like)

[Mike Hunt]

Okay, but what about FRIED PIES?

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/04...big-pie-videos/

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Knows nothin'.

Somewhere in the future someone will remember the great cake/pie wars at the start of the 21st century.

Edited to add - Ooops, added reply to wrong post. Getting weak....need pie.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Mike Hunt (log)

[melonpan]

cake dammit.