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Eli's Cheesecake of Chicago Invited to Bake Giant Inaugural Cheesecake

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090113/AQTU097)

Large Inaugural cakes date back as far as 1934 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was presented with a several hundred pound fruitcake. Eli's Inaugural dessert, tipping the scales at 500 pounds, will be a patriotically themed three-tiered cheesecake decorated with red, white and blue fondant, gold stars, a wave of red and white stripes, and both the official Inaugural Seal in chocolate, as well as, the seals representing the five branches of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard). See attached photos. After serving the guests, the remainder of the cake will be donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.

The cheesecake will be a combination of Eli's Original Plain Cheesecake and Eli's Apple Cheesecake, a tribute to both Abraham Lincoln's love of apples and the strong Lincoln references present throughout Barack Obama's campaign, transition and Inaugural festivities.

The giant cheesecake, prepared in specially constructed pans, will be baked and decorated at Eli's Cheesecake World, located onChicago's northwest side. This super-sized confection will be accompanied toWashington, via freezer truck by Eli's Master Pastry Chef, Laurel Boger, who will apply the finishing touches inWashington, D.C. Eli's worked with Fergus Rooney, Chief Executive Officer ofChicago based Event Architects to conceptualize the vision of the Inaugural cake. Event Architects is the onlyChicago firm producing a series of official Inaugural events inWashington, D.C.

The mind boggling grocery list includes: 100 pounds of cream cheese, 30 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of sour cream, 50 pounds of powdered sugar, 126 eggs, 15 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of apples, 30 pounds of butter, 4 cups of vanilla, 15 pounds of brown sugar and 12 tablespoons of cinnamon.

For those unable to attend the Inaugural festivities, Eli's has provided an Original Plain and Apple Cheesecake recipe online (http://www.elicheesecake.com/inauguration09.aspx) so that a version of the "official" dessert can be enjoyed at home.

Eli's is no newcomer to gala presentations, having baked giant celebratory cheesecakes for theCity of Chicago's 150th Birthday, Taste of Chicago's 25th Anniversary, the Chicago Bulls' Championship, and the White Sox World Series victory, to name a few. In October, 1996, Eli's opened Eli's Cheesecake World, the 62,000 square foot state-of-the-art bakery, offering a business center with daily tours, a retail store, dessert café and corporate headquarters. Eli's Cheesecake, created by the late restaurateur, Eli Schulman, as the signature dessert at Eli's the Place for Steak, aChicago legend for 39 years, has grown into one of the largest specialty cheesecake bakeries in the country servicing restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and a mail order division.

SOURCE Eli's Cheesecake