Since I'm the only one of the lot of us working anywhere near the (Ottawa) picket line, I got to judge a baking contest today. Harsh, eh? It seemed like a good idea to compensate in some way for my complete lack of expertise, so I turned to plain old nerdry. Here's how it broke down:

Figure one: Excel sheets make life better
(The ingredients scale is just a baseline; it got pretty subjective from there. It seemed wrong to penalize the use of healthier products, but, really, who needs raisins?)

• The cheesecake brownies set themselves apart by their sheer decadence. No one who hasn't (holy awkward negation, Batman!) been walking in circles for 50 some-odd days should even consider partaking of one of these beauties (pictured below).
• Limes rule. The key lime squares were incredibly refreshing after a halftable of chocolate and condensed milk, and the contrasting textures were, uh, contrasting.
• To break the three-way tie for third, I sided with variety and picked the pumpkin squares over the other brownies. Pumpkin is a bold choice, a smart risk and seasonally appropriate.

Figure two: The winner
(image shamelessly lifted from http://ottawaguild.ca/english/photos.shtm)

Evidently, there is a deal. No details yet.

And I had a carrot cake all planned out.

Update: Some details on the main CMG site now.