Hungry Jenny vs Cheesecake

There might be something a little bit wrong about my first and now second post of a fresh new year being about Cheesecake.

But hey, what can you do when you're presented with this magnificent beast...?

I think you already know the answer, don't you?

I had arranged to meet up with some old work friends in Portsmouth and one of them who used to live there had raved to us many a time about a particular cake shop in Southsea - the Parade Tearooms. (And actually, quite a few of my other Portsmouth pals have done so too!) Queues out the door (they don't take bookings in advance) and large portions of delicious homemade cakes are two things I've often heard about this place - and they weren't wrong.

When we arrived, there was already a small crowd of people gathered at the entrance and we were told it would be about a half hour wait. With our rumbling stomachs, we were tempted for a split-second to maybe go elsewhere, but the power of wanting to experience this place took over. So we got added to the waiting list and bundled in with the rest of the crowd (it was way too cold to wait outside!)

During that half hour, there was a continuous cycle of a group entering, being told there would be a half hour wait, and the group saying they'd happily wait, putting their name down. Definitely a good sign if this many people are willing to wait!

Finally, it was cake time and I had already decided what I wanted - the strawberry cheesecake. As the slice was cut up and passed over, one of my friends laughed that it actually looked like the size of my head!

As we settled down with our huge cake slices, we were all a little worried about whether we'd finish it all. The other girls all decided quite early on to ask for a doggy bag to take half of their slice home, but I wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet.

Yes, I was having a particularly lardy moment, but I figured that if I took half of it home, I would probably end up eating it the next day and that would mean two straight days of eating a rather heavy cheesecake. Which, in my head, would be worse than eating it all in one go. (I swear to you there is some logic there).

So I kept going, savouring every little bite - I most certainly wasn't going to rush! As I neared the end, the cheesecake fell over on its side and suddenly it didn't look so appealing. The syrupy sauce on the top in particular was now getting too sickly sweet. But the base. The biscuit base. So thick and crumbly. Too good to pass up. I munched the rest of the base up, had a couple more little bites of the filling and then put my fork down.

A pretty solid effort though?

I would say that I've had my cheesecake fix for the rest of the month now, but even now as I write this (the day after eating it) I'm not so sure... ;-)

More cheesecake adventures here.