Nick was excited to go off to school today because they had plans for Inauguration Day that included a viewing of part of the day’s events. When I picked him up from school this afternoon, I had to stop and remember that he’s only six as he talked about watching “Obama take the oath of office” and mention that he “had Lincoln’s book.” I promised him that we would celebrate tonight in our own special way, and we did … with Eli‘s Cheesecake.
With Eli’s Cheesecake being one of the more popular desserts from the President’s homestate, it seems only fitting that they kick off the new Presidential term. The folks at Eli’s made the dessert for tonight’s Commander-In-Chief Ball, a 500 pound version of what we received to sample, and it was also a stunning feature on Good Morning America this morning (leftovers from the Ball’s dessert are being donated to foodbanks in the DC area). The Ball’s version features a combination of Eli’s Original Cheesecake and their Apple Cheesecake, a hat tip to Abraham Lincoln, fitting given his prominent presence in Obama’s campaign. The cheesecake was made in Chicago, and then driven to Washington in a freezer truck where the finishing touches were applied. It took a whopping shopping cart (or ten!) for the ingredients to make this monster confection, including 100 pounds of cream cheese, 30 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of sour cream, 126 eggs, 50 pounds of apples, 15 pounds of brown sugar and much, much more. If you want to create your own version, they’ve very kindly given the recipe right here.
Having the taste of New York-style cheesecake or the denser Italian-style cheesecake in my mind’s palate, I never really stopped to consider that not all cheesecakes were created equal. When we had the chance to review the cheesecake, I jumped at the opportunity….