The Boss's Strawberry Cheesecake

When a few Cakehour attendees discovered that the pantry was still empty at 4:06pm, our hearts leaped with a gleam of hope. Yes, a missing cake is often a cause for great disappointments and despair; but in this case, seeing our boss's name on the sign-up sheet, our hearts told us that the freshest and the tastiest cake had just been taken out of the oven and the skilled baker was busy adding the final touch to the cake.

Even as we sat in the room, waiting for a fresh pot of Starbucks coffee to be brewed, the all-new 2010 Ford Fusion was bearing our boss and the cake, swift as the wind and steady as the earth, all the way from Warwick back to the lab. As our boss later proclaimed, the Ford Fusion is truly a marvelous car, much faster and more powerful even than the BMW 7-series. It adds a new meaning to the definition of haste.

The cake, packaged in an unadorned white box bearing only the green logo of one of our favorite bakery - Gregg's, was brought in triumphantly by our boss. There was much exciting in the room and all gazes were directed at the white box. At the same time, a few astute observers noticed that our boss was also carrying a small brown bag; and out of the bag, he produced a small container of bright red strawberry syrup. It was the same type of strawberry syrup that usually comes with the famed strawberry shortcake from Gregg's, and there was joy in our hearts. When we finally opened the box and peered into the content, we found, much to our surprise, that instead of a strawberry shortcake, there was a huge strawberry cheesecake.

It was an amazing cheesecake, by any standard. Twenty-seven fresh and plump strawberries, red as blood and sweet as candy, rested gently on a thick layer of creamy and spongy cheesecake. A few attendees confessed that while cheesecakes are not usually their favorite desserts, this particular cheesecake was so exceptionally delicious that they longed for a second slice, though there was none left after a mere 20 minutes. Indeed, this is one of the best cheesecakes that we have tasted since the beginning of this blog, and it makes those other cakes from the Cheesecake Factory seem like amateur creations. The juicy strawberries released a natural sweetness that taste like spring in our month, and the cheese layer was silky smooth and rich, yet not too rich to overwhelm one's appetite. It was a perfect cheesecake.