(772) Which cake is the best?

Elizabeth and I attended a public celebration. Two containers of scones were being served among many delicious items on a long table. As far as I could see, both scones were of the same shapes and size as well as texture. But Elizabeth hates raisins, she saw one pile as containing more raisins than the other.

She asked around and found that the two containers were baked by two women, from the same recipe. There she fell into deep trouble, she was asked which set of scones taste better. Being quick witted, she said her mother who loves raisins preferred the pile with more raisins, but she preferred the one with less raisins. It happened that the one who asked that question baked the latter pile. So she did not offend either party and made the day for her friend.

This incident brought me back to the days when I attended church pot bless events as a foreign student. There was one social where there were six cheese cakes. I have never had a chance to sample any cheese cakes of note before I landed in the land of delectable desserts. I was greedy enough to eat a tiny piece of each one of the six cheese cakes. All six ladies surrounded me and asked me which cake tastes the best. I had to exercise diplomacy to survive a situation like that! In the end, I told them I like each of them for different reasons: Mrs Green's had a delightful base, Mrs McDougal's tasted exotic (she admitted that she experimented with adding more than one type of cheese), Miss Holmes is most healthy (she added strawberries, apricots and kiwi pieces), Mrs. Corbett's has the smoothest texture, Auntie Florence's is the sweetest as she added another creamy layer for decoration and Mrs Schimel's is the most exciting as she shredded pieces of chocolate on top of her cheese layer.

But one sharp-eyed woman observed I took a second helping from  Mrs Corbett's cake. And so she challenged me and called my bluff. My creative brain whirled and I pleaded for being home sick. I claimed that since leaving home I have not had a chance to eat coconut flakes. Mrs Corbett added tiny flakes of dry coconuts on top of her superb cake. More than taste and culinary enjoyment, those pieces of coconuts reminded me of home. In the end, the more motherly ones each gave me a hug, saying things like "Oh poor little one who could not go home in the summer!"