Pie Vs. Cake?

Pushing Daisies' focus on pie has me thinking: which is the better dessert -- pie or cake?

For me, nothing rivals digging into a slice of cake. The ultimate flavor combo? Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I'm old-fashioned, that way.

Sure, I can appreciate a nouveau ganache-topped caloric monstrosity as much as the next diner. And I love an oozing chocolate-lava confection when the chocoholic mood strikes.

But for the cake purist in me, nothing beats the chocolate-frosted yellow cake. The taste, the memories harking back to birthday cakes of my youth, the comfort -- it's all good. Better than good, actually.

For if you can render a yellow cake that is substantial yet light and moist and of good crumb, I'll pledge my troth to your oven and cake molds forever.

Pie under the best of circumstances can be fairly sublime. But truly I have only experienced that once in my life. A good friend and former coworker (that's you, KCC!) brought in her apple version for a birthday celebration -- and it was so damn good I nearly retired my cake fork.

There is little forgiveness with pie. Poor execution hurts everyone. Use anything less than the coldest of ingredients, your fat gets over-mixed and any chance at flakiness is history. Holes in your crust? You risk a leaky, mushy mess, my friend. Under-estimate the fruit, and you'll end up with a dish of flat, sunken sadness. Overstuff, and you ruin the filling-to-crust ratio when the pie's proverbial cup runneth over. It's a high-wire balancing act.

For me, there's just no comparison: it's cake, hands-down.

What about you?