Friday, March 26, 2010

I'm Bad for Productivity: CAKE V PIE

I like to keep things fresh in our offices. With the current obsession with March Madness, I decided to bring some true madness to the offices in the form of an epic showdown: CAKE V PIE.




I had the various people on my rows fill out their brackets. Some had Funfetti to win. Others went the safe route with Apple Pie. I'm pulling for Red Velvet.

If you care to see how the first round fell out, Read More...

The sad truth of life is that not all desserts are created equal.  Our field has been whittled down to sixteen with a few upsets!

Birthday cake trounced Fruitcake in total wash.  Fruitcake’s few loyal (and misguided) fans cheered with all their might, and for that we salute them—if not their taste in cake.

Even though Grasshopper lost to #1 pie-seed Apple Pie, it still made a respectable showing taking about 1/5th of the votes.  That’s about 1/5th more than anyone thought it would get.  Well fought, Grasshopper.

Our first upset of the tournament came when Pound Cake narrowly beat Angel Food Cake.

Coffee Cake sent Bundt packing, proving that it deserved its #5 seed.

Pecan Pie won out over Banana Cream Pie (to no one’s surprise). 

But the creams will be well represented after Boston Cream Pie pulled out a major upset over Peanut Butter Pie (it was a close game, perhaps due in part to a rowdy crowd catcalling the legitimacy of Boston Cream's inclusion in the Pie Conference — to which the Selection Committee has issued an official response: Get over it).

Sentimental favorite Funfetti Cake lost to the complex German Chocolate Cake, which is possibly the most tragic loss in the history of the Cake v Pie match up.  We predict that Funfetti will return next year with its cult following ready to support it with zealous fervor.

Wedding Cake took home the prize at the expense of Pineapple Upside-Down.  I felt that was a lose-lose match up anyways. 
And no one was surprised to see Pumpkin Pie take down Lemon Meringue Pie, even if Lemon Meringue has, in this author’s opinion, a far superior taste and texture and is just generally far more delicious.

Rhubarb Pie faced defeat at the flakey, fruity hands of Blueberry.

Red Velvet easily sent Coconut packing towards warmer climates—and good riddance!

Key Lime triumphed over Sweet Potato; some tried to turn it into a regional thing, but the Selection Committee quickly put a stop that that.

Carrot Cake took the win over Black Forest.  The score made it look like a closer game than it was.

In what could be the most controversial upset of the tournament so far, 10-seed French Silk eeked by 7-seed Cherry by the slimmest of margins.  An epic win by French Silk, but can they pull through the next round?  We shall see.

And in our final two match ups, both Ice Cream and Cheesecake trounced their opponents, Spice and Brown Sugar respectively.  In deference to the losing deserts, we won’t dwell on how absolutely destroyed they were.  (Seriously, no chance.  Almost as embarrassing as the Birthday/Fruitcake match up of oh-ten.)


Next Week’s match-ups:

Birthday v Pound
Coffee v German Chocolate
Wedding v Red Velvet
Carrot v Ice Cream

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Apple v Pecan
Boston Cream v Pumpkin
Blueberry v Key Lime
French Silk v Cheescake

Will it be CAKE OR DEATH?  Or will Pie assert itself as the All-American Ruler of Dessertdom?