Bake Off is On

I entered into a bake off. It was a good cause and as a member of the leadership team, I thought it might be a good example to participate. Really, I mean that my winning cheesecake would be a good example of the winning dessert -- but if it helps someone be motivated to do better, then, well that is just icing on the cake.

I am doing a cheesecake and I am cheating. Not because I bought it, brought in Bobby Flay or have somehow accidently tripped a competitor -- but my cheesecake recipe has a fatal flaw that I am covering up.

See, I used to bake them all the time and they were beautiful. That was until Nicole forced us to move out of our first apartment into a house. The oven at the apartment was perfect -- not that I have any idea why -- just that every cheesecake came out beautiful. In House 1.0, every cheesecake came out with a crack. In my first attempt at House 2.0, minor, but still cracked. Normally, I just go ahead and cut pieces and no one knows. This competition is all about presentation and taste. Taste I can win. Presentation, well, unless we are in a Grand Canyon themed event, not so much.

So, I am cheating and I added a pastry cream to fill in the gaps and then cover it with raspberries and white chocolate. The pastry creme is very oddly the EXACT same color as the cheesecake. Coincidence? Well, yes -- but still pretty cool.

If I don't post for a while, it means I was robbed. If you are a judge and reading this, bribes are negotiable.