Cake Versus Pie: A Scientific Approach

I love cake.  Cake is wonderful.  But it is too easy to get caught up in the idea of cake.  When you compare the data, it is clear that pie is a better choice.  


1.  Ability of enjoyment to be sustained over time



The first few mouthfuls of cake are almost magical, but as eating continues, enjoyment drops off precipitously.  The enjoyment curve for pie appears to be much more stable over time.  

2.  Unequal frosting distribution is a problem


Pie exhibits much greater homogeneity than cake.  In cake, the highest concentration of awesomeness is found in the frosting.  The act of decorating a cake can polarize it and cause a dangerously uneven distribution of frosting, leading to discord and animosity during serving time.   

3.  Pie appears to contain a greater relative volume of enjoyable substances.  


4.  Pie is more scientifically versatile:


5.  Pie is relevant in a greater variety of situations:



Cake is appropriate in a very limited number of situations, whereas almost any day is a great day to have pie.  

6. Cake has much more severe, longer lasting consequences than pie:




UPDATE:  It's too early to tell whether this hybridization is the best idea ever or just dangerous and foolish:


Most likely it will either solve all the problems in the world or end humanity in a hyperglycemic blaze of glory. 

151 comments:

Sarah said...

WORD. Especially blueberry pie.

Also, pie is great in almost any flavor. Fruit cake sucks. Nearly any fruit is good in pie.

Don't like fruit? Flavored custard filling it is!

Pie. Word.

(Also? Cookies. Fuck yeah.)

Anonymous said...

Funny AND smart, ha ha ha!

Angie said...

This is surely scientific evidence of the superiority of pie.

Unknown said...

Pie > Cake, but Cupcakes > Pie (just my opinion). Either way, laughing hysterically at the more scientifically versatile section.

Gnetch said...

Haha! Your #4 totally makes sense! There's no such thing as cake chart.

Going Like Sixty said...

Oh my friend CakeheadLovesEvil.com will NOT be happy.
Lucky for you she is "over there."

Fia_for_life said...

you are totally great, I mean, its blogs like this that make me feel like im not the only one having such awesomly screwed up thoughts. I mean scientifically testing how pie compares to cake...genius? why yes, yes it is :D

love it
Sophia, hey I have you seen the new lady gaga music video, what do yo think of it, someone like you is sure to hav an opinioin, you can see what I think on my bloghttp://confessionsofateenageexpat.blogspot.com/
oh and fyi, you know malou from toasters and kangaroo? well im the one who made pinkkkkky for her, so you know what kinda stuff im into :)

Anonymous said...

I must disagree, cake is the shiz while pie takes like shiz. But everyone knows brownies are at the top of the food chain.

Ninja in a Mazda said...

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the appropriateness of pie on birthdays. I think pie should be a little lower. I have never had a birthday pie.

It doesn't change the outcome, but it will make your more objective.

Me, You, or Ellie said...

My son and the rest of his weirdo pre-adolescent 5th grade friends are obsessed with pie. They write short stories and poems about pie, and their graffiti always reads: "I like pie." For his 11th birthday, I gave him a rolling pin and his friends came over and we all made pies. It's a very weird Mayberry meets mayhem phenomenon, and I'm not sure how to handle it because I really prefer ice cream.

He would adore this post, but I can't show him all those f-bombs. Maybe I'll print it and draw funny faces on top of the bad words.

Jacquie

Kalisa said...

Chart #3 reminds me of when my son was in pre-school and a student brought birthday cupcakes to the class. Elijah ate the frosting off the top then told me, "I don't really like the bread part."

Amanda @ It's Blogworthy said...

Interesting, but how does that hold up to cupcakes? Same amount of icing over the whole thing.

Also, this is brilliant.

CrackedGem said...

Where does cheese cake fit in here? Hands down the best cake of all but it's kinda more pie-like. Point for pie? Point for cake? Point for awesome?

Jay Ferris said...

That's it -- the very next pie I make will be covered in frosting instead of crust. My apologies to all if the universe should explode as a result of this.

Juliette said...

Ice-cream beats cake and pie ANYDAY.

WhereForArtThouRomeo

Grant said...

I want too much pie man on a shirt.

Untypically Jia said...

I frickin' love pie. But for different reasons. I actually like the crust!

Rebekah said...

my 8-year-old was singing a song about pie the other day, and i was all, "hey, allie (cuz we are on a first name basis from my perspective) owes me a post on cake and pie. i most very definitely remember her pledging that she would post about cake and pie in an armageddon-esque dessert smackdown. how dare she LET ME DOWN in such a devastating manner. i feel stabby!!"

but, now you have come through for me. my faith in humanity is restored. i'm gonna be switzerland on this issue. i love them both. if it would survive the mailing (it wouldn't), i would send you a starwberry cake from this local bakery. the layers are so fucking good that i get tingly just thinking about that cake. you would amend you post to say "that fucking awesome cake that rebekah sent me = pie." you would, i swear.

this is a long comment. i get excited about dessert.

Mary said...

I might have argued with you, but the illustrations make it clear that you have a point. Well done.

Duncan (aka Boyfriend) said...

I sent you an email. I figured you'll probably check your comments before checking your email so I thought I'd tell you here.

Also, someone brought up a good point about cupcakes. Cupcakes solve Cake problems displayed in 1, 2, 5, and 6 (as long as you don't eat too many cupcakes). Unfortunately 3 and 4 still don't make sense. I mean, who wants the bottom of a cupcake? I've also never seen a cupcake chart.

Happy Fun Pants said...

Alright, disclaimer time: I have never owned one of these - but I do remember it from a TV show that I watched when I was stuck in Bismark, ND on a business trip...

Your last pie drawing totally looks like "My Therapy Buddy." I had to google it, which was tough because I didn't remember it well at first...but basically, your pie guy could totally be the new Therapy Buddy drawing.

http://www.mytherapybuddy.com/index.shtml

Some of the pictures are weird and hard to see clearly, but basically, it looks like he just got done eating pie.

Bridget Callahan said...

As to the cupcake question - I would argue that cupcakes do more harm than good, because you are expected to eat them with your hands and then you get crumbs on your boobs and it's terribly embarrassing, also a waste of crumbs.

However, a good point was mentioned with ice cream. Is ice cream cake technically cake? There's no nasty bread part, but also there's no crust. I suppose it's the same as the cheesecake question.

I'm on Team Pie. If I want bread, I'll go make a sammich.

kate sweeten said...

Pretty sure cupcakes trump everything...but I may have to do additional research to make sure. Time to bake shit!!

Mildly Unstable said...

I am a math nerd and I work with a bunch of math nerds, so every year on March 14 (3.14), we celebrate "pi day" by gorging on pie. It's the best holiday ever.

Carpe Sententia said...

Woot for Super Pie!

Miss Mayhem said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I think you just solved all problems in humanity!
All wars can be solved with a slice of cake, right?

-Miss Mayhem

Sam said...

OHMYGOODNESS YES.

yesyesyes.

I wish that I had pie right now.

Brutalism said...

I have always wanted the scientific evidence to support my theory that pie is definitely preferable to cake. I now have pie charts and graphs on my side.

You have provided a great service to humanity.

The Jules said...

Cake pie?

Oooooooooh . . .

Tony said...

Cake pie is the best way to commit suicide. Oh man...

After reading this, I'm leaning more towards pie now. It used to be that I loved cake more than pie, but what's better than an apple pie or a pecan pie?

You win this round, pie.

Unknown said...

it is humanly impossible to have too much pie. and whoever begs to differ should have their faces slapped with a fetus.

BLANK said...

You're too awesome, I'm putting on on our site:

http://blog.thescav.com/2010/03/great-debate-is-over.html

Zaedah said...

Am I alone in my frosting dislike? Since someone's throwing Duncan Hines at me right now, I must be the lone objector.

However, PIE is pure bliss for any occasion. Stuck for a dessert to wow the dinner party? Do you bring cake? Heck no... you break out the baddest apple pie on the rack (which is hopefully on sale).

Jane M said...

Um so I have something to say to all you supposed "cupcake" lovers out there. Its like you all have forgotten about the 'mini pie' or TART!

Tarts are everything that's good and wonderful about a pie, but in miniature. And things in miniature are better.

Plus its fun to call your friends 'tarts'. its a perfect insult.

Matt Zietzke said...

Although I do very highly appreciate the amount of effort that was put forth in this study, I do believe I have found two very major lapses in testing. These lapses have obviously, by looking at the above comments, influenced the less cultured peoples into believing there is still a way that any dessert item could be better than pie.

First, and most importantly, your study failed to determine the throwability factor. For this factor, pie is undoubtedly the winner; have you ever heard of somebody being caked in the face? No, because cake's throwability factor is just not worth the effort, while pie, on the other hand, has one of the highest throwability factors of any food item. In fact, a quick search for "caked in the face" on google provides an urban dictionary definition, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cake%20face, regarding makeup. It may be argued that the only food item with a higher throwability factor is pudding.

The second lapse in your study is that popular culture has already determined that cake just can't compete. http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/34040

Quite obviously, the cake is a lie.

I would, however, like to note one case in which cake is clearly a winner, but the affected audience is much smaller than would apply to this study. As stated by Jim Gaffigan, "You never hear about a hot chick jumping out of a pie, its too messy... 'I'm here!' 'go take a shower.' "

Thanks for the great read by the way :D

puncturedbicycle said...

Hmm, well, I prefer the inside of the cake (the cake) to the outside (the frosting) and the outside of the pie (the crust) to the inside (the filling), so my findings are markedly different.

Have you done any research into the phenomenon of the Bakewell tart, which is a cake inside a pie crust (with jam)? I would be interested in the results of such an investigation.

Kimiko&Mom said...

I think anon amus is just plain mean. While I can see that you have proven your point on many levels, anyone who gives me a birthday pie will get it right back in his/her face. I want CAKE for my birthday. And I only like key lime pie and that chocolate silk pie that usually lives in the freezer. Crust? Better be made of graham cracker crumbs. I like to have crumbs on me. My small dog considers me her personal moveable feast. It rocks; try it.

David said...

I love you, but you are wrong. You complain about the uneven distribution of frosting, but pie has no frosting. Cake is far superior.

CrackedGem said...

Yeah. Frosting is icky. At least, sugary frosting. I enjoy cream cheese frosting but not the other kind. I'm odd, I know. =P

Juli said...

Cake is something that everyone likes (except us). Next year, I want a birthday pie.

Rainey said...

Ok, so my one question would be that my cousin (who is 24) made a birthday cake for Jesus this year on Christmas. Does that count as cake-relevance? Or Christmas relevance?

Oh and P.S. We totally sang the song and blew out the candles. I think that makes us creepy.

Maureen said...

Hmm, I dunno. I don't really like pie. I actually like cake a lot better.

Ellie said...

MUFFINS.

Unknown said...

I think you're eating the wrong kinds of cake.

Barbara said...

OMG this is so true. And now I really want pumpkin pie.

I'm pretty sure your website is the greatest thing on the internet. :)

Jennifer McLean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer McLean said...

Clearly two things are true here:
1. You're a nut. (I like nuts, so it's ok)
2. You never had some of MY cake, I'm just sayin'.

How about this... a piece of cake consisting of:
chocolate cake gently brushed with vanilla syrup layered with BOTH white chocolate buttercream and thick dark chocolate ganache (fancy word for spreadable chocolate) then all smothered in vanilla buttercream and marshmallow flavored fondant (rolled VERY thinly) YUMM. Some have actually died after eating from sheer joy.
:o)

pie-shmie, who needs pie, now if we're talking buttertarts, that's a whole different ballgame!
~Jenn

Anonymous said...

Yay, cake!

Simone said...

i wanna cake pie.

p.s. love the copyright warning.

Anonymous said...

Yeah and you have never even heard of a pizza cake... ummm if you have heard of a pizza cake please contact me... if not then yeah cake totally blows and pie rules!

miss. chief said...

Pie is number one for sure. But here's a question Allie: what the eff is Halloween pie? Never heard of it. But I would really really really really like to. Is it a specific flavor? Is it pumpkin? Because that would make sense. Or maybe it's melted down mini snickers bars and candy corn? Anybody's guess!

Allie said...

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH you missed an important pie holiday on #5! THANKSGIVING! totally pie appropriate. Actually, it's basically triple pie since you need apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies to make a complete thanksgiving dessert.

Mel said...

Your super pie idea gave me a funny feeling in my tummy.

The world just isn't ready for that much awesomeness.

It makes me nervous.

Ed said...

Cake Pie would be an AWESOME way to go.

Kind of like dying during sex.

Guaranteed to go with a smile on your face.

Except in this case, your smile is crusted over with frosting.

AND, you have your clothes on when the medics arrive.

Maybe.

Erin said...

#3 and #4 are effing hilarious =)

Anonymous said...

Here is a Cake vs Pie debate on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUg8LYHCtqg

David said...

MANIPULATION OF DATA. pie is not appropriate at a birthday.

Mark said...

Cookies!

Iqbal Ismail said...

You know what's even funny?

No I don't so don't expect an answer..

You're THE BEST Allie!

P/s : Is ice cream cake an ice cream or a cake? And I hate frosting so if you, like, throw all the frosting away, doesn't that make the cake more even? Plus I've never had a birthday pie (not even a birthday cake) so could you please make me one? Not that I really want it... A gazillion thanks to you!

Christopher said...

Pie is just so much more versatile too. It can be dinner or desert. Have you ever heard of a chicken pot cake? No. I've had an ice cream pie though.

Dani said...

I'm pro pie and well not anti cake but I can leave it. I do agree that frosting is the best part. Whar you should do is take some frosting and some pie filling and smush it all together and eat it with a spoon. Just skip the crust and actual cake bits.

randomgiggles said...

I have a friend who won't eat birthday cake because he doesn't think it's fair to pie.

fireboy48 said...

This post makes me sad because I have Type II diabetes and don't get to eat cake or pie very much at all anymore. In fact, almost never. Which sucks. Really sucks.

heather... said...

no such thing as too much pie!

Rudy Fink said...

Thanks for this. I'm glad to have something I can easily send to those who have not seen the light of pie.

Sara.A said...

while pie may be better than cake, where do cookie cakes rank in all this? i feel as though they should be at the top, especially when they're straight from the oven

Spilling Ink said...

I'm going to present all my team statistics in the form of cake charts from now on. There are so many reasons why I have to.

EllenFitz said...

One look at your "Super Pie" and I was immediately reminded of the cooking segment I saw where a guy made a dessert version of the Turducken, basically baking three different pies inside three different cake flavors and making one monster pie-cake dessert. The instructions and video are here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/video-how-to-make-a-cherpumple-the-monster-pie-cake-charles-phoenix.html

Enjoy!

BlackLOG said...

Sorry I have to disagree with point 5.Pie is relevant in a greater variety of situations:

Birthday cake has to win over Birthday pie - giving it a draw is almost as insulting as a Michael Moore documentary - good points in favour but no balance, which only serves to undermine the argument.

I'll give you Halloween - Pumpkin Pie coming to your rescue

But what skewed alternative universe logic gives Christmas Pie a win over Christmas Cake - you might not actually like Christmas Cake but to deny it's place is unfair. Please send any unwanted Christmas cakes my way, I'll comfort them and happily give them a safe home in the depth of my stomach....

Other than that a great post as usual....carry on

G said...

Allie. No.
Sorry.
I think you've been looking for spiders for too long.
CAKE IS MAGIC. And the best part is the fucking cake. Like have you ever had FUNFETTI? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Pie can have things in it like rhubarb. what the fuck is a rhubarb.

I see your argument, and raise you one funfetti cake.
thanks.

Russ said...

Your best post yet! I only have one bone to pick with you, the pie crust. When done properly, it takes the pie to a whole new level. (But the average pie crust is meh.)

NotablyNeurotic said...

I shared this on facebook. I had to. It's too brilliant not to. I hope that's okay. My friends all seem to like cake, so I'm pretty sure they'll come read your blog.

Moooooog35 said...

You left the crust part on the pie in the last picture.

If you could make the crust out of frosting, then I think you're onto something.

steff said...

i completely agree with the superiority of pie over cake any ol' day.
HOW-EVER…
all this talk of pie vs. cake has me wondering where cookie cake might fall into the ranking? it too is clearly better than standard cake, yet can we really consider it a cake just because it is named as thus? i mean, in reality, its just a giant soft cookie, which, is infinitely better than a small HARD cookie, but is it really a cake?
is it?
REALLY?
while we're on the subject i can't help but bring up the whole "is cheesecake REALLY cake?" debate. this is an argument (me) and the bee have been having for quite some time and have yet to settle on a resolution.
personally, i think cheesecake belongs in the same family as pumpkin pie, yet ANOTHER item that although named as pie, i don't really think falls into the true classification of "pie".
im thinking we should rally for an entirely NEW genre of dessert foods that will encompass such unclassifiable items as pumpkin pie and cheesecake and just throw them in there.
honestly, i don't like either pumpkin pie or cheescake very much so i could do without them altogether, so whatever.
also,
i think you need a book deal.
like, seriously...

Karen said...

What about molten cake? It has what appears to be melty frosting ON THE INSIDE but no frosting on the outside, does that disqualify it completey, possibly creating a new dessert catagory? This shits like scientific. I need a raise over here. Also MODG has a point, I have never seen funfetti pie.

Anonymous said...

Well Well Well..

I am uncertain of your scientific approach. My friend, Duncan (and his Mom and Dad, Mr&Mrs Hines) have opposing scientific evidence. The veritable outcome of Pie vs. Cake is therefore clear and unarguable. Thus said, I now leave it in your hands to try to counter this rock solid research, which is top secret and powerful (as you must trust).

Thank you,
Betty Crocker

alliespence. said...

OMGoodness! Bad idea to read this in class! I was LAWLing. The people beside me were LAWLing, everyone was LAWLing seeing your amazing drawings!!

HILARIOUS.

G said...

i thought of one more thing.
If someone handed you an apple or a piece of warm sugar chocolate bread...which do you want?

fucking NO you don't want that apple!

Just Barely said...

Also, you can bake surprises, like kittens or glass, into pies. That's a lot harder to do with cake.

ac said...

cake, meh. cake < cupcakes < pie

Harini said...

I love cakes but now I m rethinking :P.

Diane said...

Plus, you can't have your cake and eat it too, but I bet you CAN have your pie and eat it too. Ha HA.

Salt said...

I just got diabetes from looking at that last picture.

Group Costume Ideas said...

@Ninja in a Mazda I've had birthday pie on more than one occasion. Totally rulez!

Juan Carlos said...

Comedian Paul F Tompkins has been doing a Cake VS Pie bit for a while now. You can listen to a preview here: http://www.amazon.com/Cake-V-Pie/dp/B002XI077S

It's on his CD which came out early this year, you can get it at http://www.aspecialthing.com/store/

I think in the interest of scientific cordiality you should credit him since he came to the same conclusion in his act as you (re: hiybridization of cake/pie)

Marilyn B said...

I believe that I prefer cake but I feel compelled to endorse your theory and to comment on the comments.

I don't think the cupcake defense raised by some readers works. If you make one box cake and spread it in a single cake pan or make one box cake and spread it among several small, round cupcake holders, you still have one (1) box cake. Then it gets the same amount of frosting. Your eye is fooling you and you're being cheated, my friends. It's the same amount of cake and frosting, just broken into non-contiguous existence.

Cheesecake, yes, 1 point for pie structure, 1 point for cake = extra credit & awesomeness.

Ice cream cake & cookie cakes infringe on cake's copyright. They are just ice cream or cookie with frosting & cake-style embellishments. Pizza cake appears merely to be a cake masquerading as pizza...see Google. Cake realizes it must steal/assume identities because it is less awesome than pie, just like pizza steals the term pie to become "pizza pie" to boost its appeal.

Brownies rule, except when they are frosted. Please people stop the madness!

Unknown said...

Rubbish. Tremble as I devour your points like morsels of tasty, tasty cake.

1) Even your graph admits cake tastes better right off the bat. Simply eat a little at a time, come back when you're ready for more.

2) Certainly, cake frosting is uneven. BUT PIE HAS NO FROSTING AT ALL! Uneven frosting > no frosting.

3) Volume schmolume, that's like saying a Volvo beats a Mercedes because it has more seats. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY!

4) I suppose you've never seen a circular cake, which can be cut into PIE-LIKE SECTIONS? The fact is that cakes take many different shapes, while pies are limited to the boring circle. Thus it is CAKE which is actually far more versatile (scientifically and otherwise)

5) Christmas and Halloween only occur once per year. Birthdays happen ALL YEAR ROUND! It's ALWAYS someone's birthday!

6) Alright, I can't find a way to spin diabetes as a positive, so I'll give you this one. But that's just the price you pay for such concentrated awesomeness.

Amy said...

I. Fucking. Hate. Pie.

Unknown said...

anyone who gives a child birthday pie should be reported to local child service agencies.

CAKEFTW

fireboy48 said...

Brian, here's a point-by-point refutation of your comment.
1)Who the hell can eat just a little cake! That's like eating one potato chip. It's just not humanly possible.
2)True, pie has no frosting. But, you can take hot pie and put ice cream on it and it gets all melty. That kicks frosting's ass anyday.
3)As Stalin once said, quantity has a quality all it's own.
4)Okay, I don't get either side of this argument. I don't give a flying fuck what shape it's in. as long as it's tasty.
5)Birthday cake is overrated. White cake with white frosting? Who gives a shit. But, coconut pie fresh out of the oven. Oh my God, it's heaven on a plate!
6)Diabetes sucks. Not arguing that one.

Unknown said...

@fireboy48

1) Wait, wait, wait. You're saying that pie is more enjoyable because cake is TOO TASTY TO STOP? I argue that is a problem with the human race, not cake.

2) Cake may ALSO be eaten with ice cream. In fact there are ice cream cakes! POW!

3) Yes, but as history agrees, Stalin sucked ass.

5) I assure you chocolate birthday cakes exist, and in great numbers.

4 & 6) N/A

Joel said...

Well said. To be honest, I'm super jealous because I wish I had thought of a post like this for my pie blog... for some less funny and less awesome, but somewhat interesting pie talk - visit http://www.makemesomepie.com.

Fiona said...

Also, when attempting to serve cake a wedding, you will get charged at least $3 a puny slice (and this is for simple plain old rectangular cakes. You want anything fancy you're looking at $6+)

Pie, however, probably because it is not something typically served at a wedding, can be obtained for as little as $1.25 a slice

BRILLIANT!

Anonymous said...

Cheesecake is the perfect hybrid. It's not really a cake, it's more like a pie, but it 'aint no pie neither.

Kelly L said...

SUPER PIE!!!!

Stacey said...

This is one of the funniest things I've ever read. I love all sorts of baked goods, but pie takes the cake (pardon the pun)! My coworkers laugh at my love of pie, and now I can shove this scientific proof of its superiority in their faces!

The graphics were especially great. Kudos!

Unknown said...

re #3 If you make a cake and the frosting is the best part - You're doing it wrong!

Anonymous said...

Juan Carlos: Well, duh, what other logical conclusion could you come up with other than a hybrid of cake and pie?? It's so simple and so good it just makes sense!

That's like saying penises should go into vaginas, but I'm not going to credit God every time I have sex.

dogimo said...

Awesome awesome awesome. Allie, you're gaining like a hundred followers a week! I love it!!!!

Cool beans. Cool as coffee bean gelato. No, cooler!

Zach said...

Very funny.
However, you decrease the versatility and usefulness of this by adding completely unnecessary expletives. Instead of trying to flex your rebellious attitude on the web, try removing the expletives.

This is good, unfortunately, I will not be sharing it with anyone because of your word choice.

jazdesign said...

Cookie cake pie exists:

http://www.cakespy.com/blog-old/2009/5/27/triple-threat-the-cookie-cake-pie.html

And I have to say, it is amazing.

Ben said...

About fucking time we got some real evidence on this very serious debate had in not only America but all other countries (not including the poor ones of course it's very unlikely they have a cake or celebrate birthdays).

As my research expands on Foods-I-think-are-Awesome Vs. Foods-Similar-that-aren't-as-Good. (i.e. Muffins vs. Cupcakes, Tea vs. Coffee, etc) I will be linking back to your findings. This compelling case of pastry weighings is likely more then enough evidence to look no further into the matter and realistically not expect a lot of guff when presented as an Absolute Truth.

You and the Makers of Pop Vs Soda are truly great people; game changers in the favoritism food topics world.

Anonymous said...

Also, you can eat pie as a MEAL because it has FRUIT in it and no one can judge you for that.

Mn, apple pie a la mode...

Anonymous said...

i've always wondered about a pie baked inside of a cake.that way you could eat your cake and have your pie too. isn't that how the saying goes?

love the blog. just discovered it and I'm going to have the url tattooed on my ass so i never forget it...

:)

Kate said...

you are amazing. amazing.

suzy said...

pie sucks.
you can't have birthday pie.
but, just so you know, i WANTED to agree with you, because the pictures were so nice.
so at least you're good at debating, if not knowing whether pie or cake is better.

Anonymous said...

Please see:

Http://OMGPIE.com/

Case closed :-)

Unknown said...

I love eatin out pie...especially in a 69 position lol

Anonymous said...

Boston Creme Pie is the perfect hybrid of a cake and a pie. Perhaps, it is the Super Pie?

Beth M Howard said...

I loved your Pie vs. Cake post so much I had to write about it on my blog, The World Needs More Pie (blogspot.com). Hope you don't mind that A) I used one of your graphics (was a little scared to do that after your lecture in today's post!) and B) I described you as slightly insane (now I'm even more scared because it won't be that hard for you to find me). I also took the liberty suggesting ways to incorporate more pie into your blog. Sorry, I was just so, er...enthusiastic. Gulp. For the rest of you reading this, there's no further debate necessary: PIE RULES!!!!

Bethany said...

I have to quibble with number 5. As in number 4 where you can have a pie chart but no cake chart, for number 5, society has "birthday cake", but there is no "birthday pie." Even if you are having a pie for your birthday, you would say "My birthday cake is a pie this year." So pie must be lower than cake for birthdays. Also, Red Velvet cake is a wonderful Christmas cake, so cake should be higher for Christmas.


And although you touch on frosting in #3, it is all about the flavor ratio. You don't have a category devoted completely to "frosting" and "lacking frosting," where, of course, cake would come out on top.

I feel the cake has been short changed here. Cake still may not come out on top, but I think cake is giving pie more of a run for its money than you have given it credit for.

Husband disagrees, but he doesn't like frosting, so that makes him a Bad Person by definition.

Miftahgeek said...

Ha, ha, I like both of them :D

Malik said...

There is a problem with #4... The first picture shows us a circular pie AND a circular cake. So it is a easy to share as a pie ! Watch your arguments ;) Other tahn taht I found it really funny.

Chris said...

Although the pie chart always works, I do think you preclude the possibility of a round cake chart. That could happen. But overall, as a cake person, I found myself very persuaded by your reasoning. I will now eat a piece of pie.

fireboy48 said...

Brian,
1) I didn't mean to imply that pie was better than cake because cake is too tasty to stop eating. I meant that your idea of eating a little cake and coming back later was faulty.
2) You're right, ice cream can be eaten with cake. But, you failed to account for the "melty" factor. Pie is definitely superior to cake as a partner to ice cream.
3) Stalin did suck ass. It was a faulty argument.
4)I realize that chocolate birthday exists. I've even had a few over the years. But, it always felt like cheating to me.

Chris said...

What about the cupcake? Totally deserves it's own comparison.

AS said...

THERE IS NO CHOICE. Pie is so much better.

E-Read said...

Just thought you would enjoy this! I saw it on Chicago Grubstreet :)

E-Read said...

WHOOPS! Here it is: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/03/bracketology_pie_vs_cake.html

Mary@Holy Mackerel said...

Pie most definitely wins over cake any day, even on birthdays, I would hazard. Except, of course, if we're talking ice cream cakes.

Could you maybe do a comparative analysis of ice cream cake versus regular cake? Thanks.

catty said...

LOL - absolutely HILARIOUS :)

Alia said...

Maybe someone mentioned this already I don't know and I'm too lazy to check, but this cake v. pie debate is certainly more detailed than originally thought.

http://jezebel.com/5496714/march-madness-the-cake-vs-pie-tournament

Anonymous said...

Pie is totally appropriate for all occasions! I made a big ceremony out of cutting and serving wedding pie when I got married!

Thor said...

Disagree that pie is not a birthday food. Pie is TOTALLY a birthday food. The person who created national pie day created it on his birthday so his students would bring him pie on his birthday. Don't believe me? http://www.examiner.com/x-241-Beer-Examiner~y2009m1d11-I-founded-National-Pie-Day-in-1975-so-what-does-this-have-to-do-with-beer

John Coulter said...

Cake is so much better. its no contest.

http://caketroll.tumblr.com/

Elizabeth Patch said...

I am an illustrator myself and I have to send out some art love to you:
your illustrations are hilarious!

Anonymous said...

we HAVE a cake/pie hybrid in the UK. it's called a Mr Kipling Bakewell Tars. it's pastry case, jam, cakey-stuff, frosting and a cherry.

Diane Schmidt said...

I L-O-V-E pie! I made pie for pi day and everyone was so happy to see my special apple pie on the table. If you'd like to take a look it's here, http://createdbydiane.blogspot.com/2010/03/today-is-pi-day.html
I'm following and look forward to seeing more of you blog.

Bootis said...

Well you started this off with a lie. You don't love cake. In fact, you used this whole post to complain about cake. Plus there is a picture that shows apparently the only thing you like about cake is frosting. Plus, you also appear to not like the crust of pie. You don't appear to be a reliable source for cake/pie comparisons.

Øyvind said...

While I prefer pie to cake, I must point out that there are several kinds of cake, some more delicious than others, and various shapes, sizes and indeed basic designs. In essence, cake is more versatile, both for good and for bad.

Anonymous said...

I just ate ice cream cake inside a pie crust. WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

Mrs T said...

I followed over from A Bride's Brain.

FUNNIEST SHIT EVER. That bit about the frosting rose made me snort. Best post I've seen in ages!

Patty said...

Yay finally scientific proof that pie is better! Cool charts, thanks for posting!

Timotab said...

You forgot another important point. Pie can also be meat!

Chicken Pie, Steak Pie, Pork Pie!

Whoever heard of a meat cake?

The Hungry Mouse said...

Fucking brilliant. This totally made my morning.

+Jessie

B and T Crowd said...

Don't forget you can make a pie with four completely different flavors, also known as a Quad Pie. Its only existence is detailed here:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com/2009/01/quad-pie-worlds-greatest-pie-baking.html

Andrew said...

Flawless explanation of unequal frosting distribution. I think I love you.

erik said...

you obviously eat all the wrong cake, have you ever been to a place called Europe, you can't even find pie there because it's so, what's the word, suckie in comparison. American cake is a disservice to the word and all cake eaters, the only thing it is good for is food fights, which I will admit pies are better for, but then there is the issue that you have to launch whole pies and not pieces, so that's debatable depending on how much ammo you need.

eponymous said...

Hang on - there is a clear lack of extrapolation here. Why doesn't a cake chart make any sense? It's the same principle - area of the relevant coloured part versus area of the whole cake. It's even better for text wrapping, in scientific documents because of its linearity.

Also - cupcakes are uniform and homogenous, and cakes make statements! The inhomogeneity of cakes lends itself to baking them of different shapes and sizes - to create cake castles etc. etc. They're versatile in terms of baker creativity (may not be culinary creativity)

A cake is nearly always the chosen dessert compared to a sweet, throat dehydrating mince pie. Chocolate chips inside the cake make the cornucopious enjoyment last nearly as long as that of pie. I still agree that pie is a lot better nutritionally and in terms of variety of flavours and ingredients though.

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eri.n said...

I just thought you should know that a few years ago, a radio station in my home town (which is really a city, but home city sounds odd), had a whole campaign dedicated to pie. I bought a
t-shirt that said "Enjoy Pie Again!". I can't find a picture of it, though :(

Sybil said...

It was perhaps a mistake to read this while eating. Because I nearly choked on an orange when I saw the "cake chart". Well done.

Anonymous said...

My fiancé is having Groom's Pie at our wedding instead of Groom's Cake.

Gnomebody said...

Awesome! This has caused me to think as to how to categorize chocolate dipped sandwich cookies. Hmmmm...

Nope. Pie still wins.

Nate said...

Pie's biggest advantage is its flexibility. Cake is cake -- essentially a buttery, small-crumb sweet bread. I'd wager that 95% of cakes are in one of two flavors -- vanilla and chocolate, and the icing is similarly limited. Pie, however, can be sweet, sour, or savory. It can be a tart, a quiche, a cheesecake (which is really a custard pie), or even a pizza pie! Even if we restrict pies to dessert pies, they can be lemon, cherry, apple, blueberry, blackberry, pecan, coconut, peanut butter... almost anything (strangely barring grape and most citrus).

The cake's advantage is artistic. There are no seven-tiered wedding pies. There are no pie decorating contests. Cakes can be whimsical, cakes can be awe-inspiring, cakes can be clever, cakes can be beautiful, cakes can be surprising. 99.9% of pies are round. Just round. Small and round. Pies are for eating, period.

Pies are also more likely to suck than cakes, because they take more skill. A great pie is better than a great cake, but there are fewer great pies. If your mom makes a great crust, or knows how to make a proper filling (or, be still my heart, BOTH!), then you are, no doubt, a pie fanatic. However, if your mother-in-law is like mine, then you've had to choke down a lot of bad, cardboard-crust, over-sweet, gloppy pies with a fake "MMMMMmmmmmm!" And that stinks. Cake, the worst that happens is it gets a bit dry.

So, cake or pie? Me, I don't know. Then again, if pie v. cake was an easy question, then philosophers wouldn't have spent so much time on it.

BigBlueBug said...

Bacon pie is proof that the flying spaghetti monster (PBUH) loves us and wants us to be happy.

Ashley said...

I hate to totally disagree. But, I totally disagree. This might stem from the fact that I hate icing (unless it's cream cheese) and that the crust is my FAVE part of the pie.
But, I think we both agree that cake and pie are both amazing.
And I make an awesome wild blueberry pie. Mmmm.

Becky said...

Cheesecake is really pie.
So pie > cake.
End.

Dave in Texas said...

I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me.

Brava. Brava!

Bryan Sarrasin said...

I believe this link is relevant to your interests: http://jezebel.com/5509799/the-pie-vs-cake-championship-match-one-dessert-to-rule-them-all

Wild Cakes said...

I stumbled across your blog today, and i have been reading for hours; thinking YOU ARE JUST LIKE ME! HOW CAN YOU BE IN MY HEAD? And then... this.

I am sorry... but cake rules. Cake is my life. It is my job and my obsession. Cake is so much more than you give it credit for!

Pie is lovely, but it's no cake.