Gimme a Slab of Pie

            Should it come down to a vote, would you choose pie or cake for dessert?

Not like making a bad choice whichever way you go as in the national political scene. We’re talking casting a vote with deliciousness on one side and also on the other. But, you can’t have both. It's a dilemma. Don’t straddle the fence, now. Choose.

            My vote would be for pie, even with Causbie’s Signature Strawberry Cake only 10 miles away from my front door. Never having thought about it that much, I came upon some research and found it to be quite accurate. Have you ever heard of a “cake chart?”

            The equity in pie servings is a plus; with cake, people vie for the end pieces, the ones with all the roses and icing. The middle part of the cake is often left to dry out. Pie never dries out and is delicious, all the way around, even slices, unless a misguided soul says, “Give me just a sliver.”

            “Give me a slab of cake,” a most unsophisticated request, would never be requested with a pie. Requesting seconds would be more genteel. A piece of pie, with the point turned away from the diner, is just the ticket. Never turn the point of pie slice right at the gobbler’s stomach (how gauche).

            Now, I’m better at baking a cake because I can simply buy a box of cake mix, add some water and oil and an egg. Or, I can make Mother's Easy (ha!) pound cake. Whip it up, pop it in the oven, and Voila! Cake!  A pie takes some skill to keep the filling from running all over the plate. The woman who can bake a pie is a culinary genius. The nursery-rhyme song with the line “Can she make a cherry pie, Billy-Boy?” is right on the money. Make it “a-la-mode” and it’s a palate pleasing, culinary spectacle.

           

           Coconut pie is my all-time favorite, made with real custard filling combined from coconut flakes and some coconut milk and other perfectly chosen ingredients. With meringue browned on the tips and some additional coconut flakes on top…ooh-la-la. Not the kind that comes in a box, frozen, the kind that has to thaw out. We’re talking warm and perfect, slap-yo-mama coconut pie.

            If you had to choose, had to vote one way or the other, which would it be? Pie or Cake?