4 boxes of culinary ecstasy have been launched from west Tennessee! You've seen the picture. Now feel the rapture!

I'm grinning from ear to ear!

good luck.. the pic looks really good...

Low

mmmm... cheesecake...

I'm startin' to feel like an underfunded candidate in a district where the registered voters of the opposing party have his party outnumbered ...

Gotta hope that my "message" will be persuasive ...

Steve I would think the advantage is yours. You know what my entry is and what it looks like. The bar is set. You just have to go very high!

SteveS,

I have tried to keep from replying to any cheesecake posts in order to maintain a neutrality for judging. I have to admit that I did look at the posted pic, but it will not influence me in any way.

By the way, please post a list of desired cigars to give the judges a guide on what to send you. Personally, I would hate to send what I consider a good cigar only to have one of the cheesecake bakers end up being disappointed with my selection. If you do not feel like posting it here please send it to me via email at kyhuntsmanat yahoodotcom.

Thanks,
Matt

Came home from lunch today and Xrun's cheesecake was on the front porch. Grinning from yesterday to today I brought it in the house and began performing surgery on it. It was indeed packed well.

I noticed it went out on the 7th and I got it today on the 9th. Two days. Gentlemen that is too long in the desert! Not bad, in that it wasn't quite hot, but there was no sign that it had been frozen; no moisture anywhere.

However, it held together with only some of the cream cheese staying with the foil wrapper. Now on to the good stuff.

First, I'm not asking for an 1/8 piece again...I'll go for the 1/4. Had to keep my better half off of it as she only left me enough to judge!!! She got a big kick out of how it was addressed to me followed by: Official Cheesecake Judge

Creamy texture with a pure thin, cream cheese topping. It held together quite well considering its travels. Not overly sweet; definitely not cakey and dry like some cheesecakes can get. The crust on the bottom in the middle was just a hair too thin; could've been about twice in thickness. The crust toward the ends and sides was just right. Also, the crust was not dry but had just the right amount of substance for lack of a better word.

I wish I had hid it and had it all myself. Dayum this was good eatin' Xrun! What a good start! Steve S, you've got your work cut out for you, for sure.

On a scale of 1 to 10 cheesecakes; this one rates a solid 8.5 cheesecakes.

Goods: Creamy, not overly sweet, nice light thin creamy top; top notch crust toward the end and sides; not dry or cakey

Bads: Crust a little too thin in the middle

Thanks for the good review Jerry! Very constructive. I will work on that bottom crust. One side note: The topping is sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

Great topping; shows you what I know about topping! I do know that it was dayum good! I did lick the foil. And I'm hiding the next one!

Mine went out today, but I'm feeling more than ever, like the underfunded candidate mentioned above ... wish we'd had some Florida judges ... LOL.

jd's post makes me wish I'd followed my instincts and sent the whole 1/4 section ...

You want us to vote?!?

Ok!

Is there going to be some recount against a legitimate vote? Just want to know.


Only got one thing dangling, and it's not a chad!

That's OK SteveS...I'll somehow make do...it will be rough but I've been tasked and I fully accept my fate....bwwwwaahahahahahahahahahaha!

Seems it was hot in Encinitas today! E-chick says her cheesecake was too warm. That is very sad. If we run another contest like this, we'll do it in January! If Steve's cake gets to her in good shape, he gets her vote. If not, her vote is nullified. in this event, she has no obligation to send smokes of course. And none to me in any case. Man! I was worried about AZ not CA.

I was mortified that I couldn't wrap my lips around that lucious, creamy cake...I had waiting anxiously...

I feel terrible that it arrived in such bad condition. I wanted to clobber my mailman...

Any way, it was in the high 80's here for the past 2 days and about or at 80 today...good for me, bad for unrefrigerated cheesecakes...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/citysearch/feature/222/  and click on the video...

Give me another chance!

Another chance? You got it! Anybody have any ideas how to package cheesecake. I've heard the dry ice idea. I'll bet that would double shipping costs. I might do it anyway if there isn't a better way.

E-chick, I feel your pain. Thankfully mine arrived in perfect condition and it was superlative. Best dang cheesecake I've ever had (so far). Steve, you have a tough act to follow and I have high hopes.

Only problem was it's a little tough to keep it lit.

LMAO at efm!!!
Take the foil off man!!!! BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Damn, that's too bad E. It was a killer kake!

Dry ice seems like it would work. Can't weigh that much can it? Experiment on AZ. I'll make it up in smokes.

All right, here I go with my opinion. This was the best home made cheesecake I've ever had, period.

Scoring is broken into three categories, topping: 30 points, body: 40 points, and crust: 30 points.

TOPPING:
The topping was fantastic. After reading the topping ingredients, I was a little hesitant about the sour cream. Man am I ever glad I changed my mind and didn't scrape it off. This literally was the "icing on the cake." Yummy! I gave this a 28. I deducted one point cause I had to scrape some off the foil, not your fault though. I deducted another point cause nothing is perfect anyway.

BODY:
Very consistent throughout, not too sweet, not dry like a lot of cheesecakes, a good consistency, very tasty indeed. I gave this a 39. Again, I deducted one point cause nothing is perfect.

CRUST:
I must say I am a crust man. I've always thought the crust was the most crucial aspect of a pie or cheesecake and let me tell you this crust did not disappoint me in any way. It was moist, but not too moist. It was easy to cut with a fork, maintained its form, and the taste was to die for. I gave this crust a 30. Okay, so I lied about perfection but then again I am a self admitted crust man. 😉

TOTAL SCORE: 97 out of 100

Notes: My wife agreed that this was the best home made cheesecake that she'd ever eaten and that is really saying something as both of her parents are really good cooks. She even threatened to lick the plate clean, but I will deny ever saying this if she finds out. 😉

This will be a tough act to follow, but I have high hopes for Steve's cheesecake!!!

I have one packaging suggestion for the next round. Try wrapping cling wrap around the cheesecake under the foil. This may help alleviate some of the topping sticking to the foil.

By the way, my cheesecake arrived in great shape. It was still partially frozen. I let it sit in the fridge for a day and a half before sampling.