Master of the Kraft Odd pairing of KD and cheesecake a hit for city bakery
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It’s the food mashup that appears, at first glance, to be a match made in culinary purgatory.
Featuring a Canadian childhood staple baked into a New York-style cheesecake, the star of the show is the ubiquitous blue-and-yellow box lurking in nearly every pantry across the country.
It’s the ultimate time-saving saviour — firmly lodged in memories as a comforting dinner rapidly whipped up and just as swiftly snarfed down between after-school activities and homework.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Linda Peters, manager at Goodies Bake Shop, says the Kraft Dinner cheesecake is the most fun collaboration the shop has ever done.
But now Kraft Dinner is stepping boldly — some might even say wildly — out of its lane.
For the first time ever, the definitive Queen of Convenience Food (our capitals, not theirs), has crashed the dessert chiller cabinet with this cheesy, sweet and salty take on its classic supper: the KD Mac & Cheesecake.
This triple-threat double-dairy delight incorporates actual KD powdered cheese baked into the graham cracker crust and folded into the cheesecake batter. (Don’t panic; the elbow macaroni sits this one out, thankfully.)
It’s a dream come true for KD diehards who have secretly wanted to slide their favourite comfort food onto the pudding platter.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Goodies Bake Shop is the only place in town to get the Kraft Dinner-infused dessert.
In Winnipeg, the confectionery is only on sale at Goodies Bake Shop (1124 Ellice Ave.), where owner Linda Peters has been busy fielding orders since she started selling slices of the cake two weeks ago.
Peters was hesitant at first when she was first approached by the Kraft Heinz Company to create the nine-inch cake. Each baked treat yields 12 slices, with a $5 price tag per slice or $50 for the whole cake.
“I thought this can’t be real; it’s too weird. But I was also intrigued enough to look into it. And after talking to the team I thought let’s give it a shot,” she says.
“It’s the most fun collaboration we’ve ever done.”
While the idea might not make sense on paper, it’s clearly a winner on the tastebuds; to date Peters has sold 1,500 slices and expects to be shifting a lot more before the limited time offering ends this Friday.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Goodies manager Linda Peters says the cheesecake has proven popular.
The flavour is proving to be so popular that curious customers who’ve bought just one slice have been returning in droves to the bakery to place orders for the entire cake.
“We are having to bake it almost every day, in large batches. It’s a big New York cheesecake, so it has to bake, then it has to cool and rest, and then it has to be semi-frozen prior to cutting because it’s very soft. It’s been a constant cycle of baking, setting, freezing and cutting,” Peters says, noting the savoury-sweet cake is far more popular than she had expected.
“It started off as something that seemed like a joke but it actually works, it’s actually delicious.”
The KD Mac & Cheesecake will be available at the bakery until Friday. Full cakes and slices can ordered on the website goodiesbakeshop.com.
winnipegfreepress.com/avkitching
Taste test
What do Free Press writers think of KD’s move towards the dessert aisle? Are we looking at a sweet-and-savoury masterpiece, or is this an ill-fated hostile takeover that should have stayed in the box?
MIKE APORIUS / FREE PRESS From left: Free Press columnist Jen Zoratti, arts editor Jill Wilson and copy editor Darren Ridgley enjoy the concoction.
Armed with lactaid pills, and a healthy sense of curiosity, our intrepid editorial team sniffed and scooped in a bid to sate our curiosity, and yours.
Darren Ridgley: I despise that it’s not bad. I hate knowing that I’m going to finish that… gestures at bright orange piece of cake
Jen Zoratti: Horrible news: it’s great. I thought this would be absolutely vile but it’s not at all — especially once you get past the unappetizing neon orange of the KD drizzle. Everyone’s mileage on the smell will vary; KD powered mix is pure nostalgia for me; it smells like going home from elementary school for lunch in the winter.
Jill Wilson: It’s actually weirdly delicious. It has that quality of eating cold Kraft Dinner, which I love, but sweet. I don’t like cheesecake in general, and I like this better than I like most cheesecakes. The crispy cheese powder on the top is kind of good!
DR: Yeah, it has just enough salt.
Tyler Searle: That is good. It does have a hint of Kraft Dinner, but just a touch. It’s really tasty — I almost wish I didn’t know that it was Kraft Dinner because I would be turned off by that.
JZ: The colour is upsetting. It’s not subtle. If you didn’t know it was KD flavoured, you wouldn’t necessarily know, save for the colour. They gotta do something about that — gives it away.
DR: What’s messing me up on the second bite is that all the Kraft Dinner comes on the aftertaste. You have a nice, sweet bite and then…
… Ridgley trails off. Unable to complete his sentence he stares into the distance contemplating his life choices as he absent-mindedly finishes almost all of one slice of cake before coming back down to earth.
DR: It’s an abomination made by a skilled hand. I’m still thinking about it. I will for months.
AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV.
Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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