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Company makes giant cheesecake for Obama's inauguration

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-15 10:26

CHICAGO -- A Chicago company will bake a 500-pound cheesecake topped with a special chocolate seal and bring it to Washington D.C. for Barack Obama's January 20 presidential inauguration.

US President-elect Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Vice President-elect Senator Joe Biden at the presidential transition office in Washington January 14, 2009. [Agencies]

In keeping with the Abraham Lincoln inaugural theme, Chicago-based Eli's Cheesecake Corporation will make the giant cheesecake with an apple-flavored middle layer, in homage to Lincoln's love of apples.

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To make the behemoth cake, Eli's is using 100 pounds of cream cheese, 30 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of sour cream, 126 eggs, 50 pounds of Michigan apples and 30 pounds of butter, among other ingredients.

Eli's had a metal company make a special pan to fit the cake, whose base measures 42 inches in diameter. Large rack ovens at Eli's kitchen will be used to bake the layers, which will be assembled in Washington.

The cake will be served to the 3,000 Purple Heart recipients and military families expected to attend the Commander-in-Chief Ball at the National Building Museum.

The cake will be topped with a chocolate inaugural seal while the middle layer will be decorated with the seals of the five military branches. The base will be covered with royal blue fondant, a wave of red and white stripes and gold and white stars.

Leftovers from the giant cheesecake will be donated to a food bank in Washington.