The 2009 Parade of State Fair Baking Entries

My schedule was really tight this year for State Fair baking. I was working in my new classroom the week prior to the drop-off Sunday, and returned home Thursday night, just in time to bake all day on Friday and Saturday. Somehow, I managed to get all 21 entries finished.

The ingredient line-up on Day 1.


Works in progress on Day 2.


The completed entries at 12:30 am, ready for the 8:00 am drop-off at the fairgrounds on Sunday morning.


The Entries:
Apple pie, Peach pie, Pound cake, Sponge cake, Angel Food Cake, Lemon Meringue Pie, Ethnic Bread, Sweet Rolls, White bread, Fruit Bread (Blueberry Almond), Fruit type cake (Strawberry - my own experiment), Raisin bread, Herb bread, Coffee cake (yeast bread type), Brownies plain, Chocolate chip cookies, Oatmeal cookies, Icebox cookies (chocolate), Ball cookie (gingersnaps), Peanut butter cookies, and Brownies with nuts.

2009 State Fair Registration Time!

May 1 marked the first day of 2009 State Fair online registration. I gathered all my recipes and notes together and completed my registration today. The final tally: 21 entries. I'm hoping to win at least 8 ribbons. I am challenging myself and trying some new recipes and entering difficult categories, so I may not reach my goal, but I'm excited to try!

If anyone out there likes to bake, I hope you enter the competition! The minimum age for entry is 14, and you can have up to 25 entries.

http://www.mnstatefair.org/pages/creative_activities.html

Be proud of what you can create!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Yellow Cake (also known as my FIRST BLUE RIBBON!)

(middle shelf, towards right, blue ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, not otherwise specified lot: 1st place

This cake is the preferred birthday option of my sister, who requests a yellow cake with chocolate frosting every year. Last year was her golden birthday, so I made it using cake flour for the first time. I could not believe how well it turned out. I wished I could have entered that cake in the fair! There is not a lot for yellow cakes, believe it or not, so this cake ended up in the "Not Otherwise Specified" lot, because there wasn't another lot it would fit in.

I remember the morning the fair results were posted I had an 8 am class at the U of M, and I couldn't check the results until after class, as they were posted at 8 am as well. I think I ran the last leg of my walk back to my car, then flew down the parkway to get home to my computer! I saw the first 4 results (Banana Bread, White Cake, Spice Cake, and Chocolate Cake), and then I saw my name in first place in this lot. I did a lot of jumping around and fist pumping when I saw the result! I really hoped I would be able to contend for the Grand Cake of the Fair. They judge all the cakes in the shortening and the egg categories, and deem the best of all the blue ribbon cakes the Grand Cake of the Fair. (Ironically, my spice cake had a higher score for the cake component!) Well, there's always this year!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Chocolate Cake

(middle shelf, towards left, pink ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, chocolate lot: 4th place

I had entered this category in 2007 using Betty Crocker's newest version of a Devil's Food Cake recipe, frosted with French Silk Frosting. It bombed. I realized that whenever I make a chocolate cake for a birthday, I go to my old standby, Cocoa Fudge Cake. I decided this year I would enter the one that I always like to eat and it always comes out well. Although I got a very good score on this cake, it placed 4th in the lot. Still, I was quite pleased with the results. And again, the secret was using cake flour.

Mr. Findlay-Lampkin told me once that this cake was good because it tasted like a Suzy-Q. I think that was supposed to be a compliment.

2008 Minnesota State Fair: White Cake

(bottom shelf, towards left side, red ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: White Cake (with egg whites) lot: 2nd place

I remember this cake was the first one I made from scratch as a 2 layer cake. It was a snowy day, and we had the afternoon off from school. I think I was in the 6th grade. It was a rather inauspicious beginning, but I used it as a starting point for exploring more baking projects and developing my cake making skills.

Like the Spice Cake category, I entered this cake on a whim. I was surprised this cake placed as high as it did. It didn't receive a terribly high score (my 4th place chocolate cake actually had a higher score), but it was good enough for second place in this lot. I think the trick is using cake flour instead of all purpose flour. I like putting more almond flavor into this cake, and I like the white on white color combination.

Holiday Food Fun!

I set up shop in the kitchen at the beginning of the holidays every year. I usually make a few different kinds of cookies, as well as baking for gifts. This year I created State Fair Sampler Packs with 5 of the entries I plan to make for the fair this summer.

I also help with meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve I always make clam chowder and salmon dip, and I like to make some of my Grandma Findlay's specialties, namely her famous sauerkraut meatballs and cinnamon applesauce jello. This year on Christmas Day we had a Greek/Middle Eastern themed meal. I made tabbouleh and helped my mom make spinach pie.


My mom and I working in the kitchen. We had 2 Kitchen Aid stand mixers going at once. Thank goodness they have 2 convection ovens and a root cellar that stays very cool in the winter. We need all the space!


My dad, or the esteemed washer of the dishes, and I in the kitchen on Christmas Eve. I made the apron he's wearing. I embroidered his favorite kitchen saying on the front: "Cookbooks are for wimps."


I'm coating chocolate mint wafer cookies here. It's my new favorite holiday cookie to make. I got the recipe from Everyday Food magazine, the December 2007 issue.





I also tried some new cookies, Almond Sweets and Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies, that will be back next year. Cranberry Jumbles turned out well and tasted good, but didn't seem like a Christmas cookie. We'll save that one for the fall.

Mom's Julekage dough getting ready to rise. This is a Norweigian holiday bread made with candied fruit and cardamom. She led me through the process - I plan to make this for an ethnic bread category at the fair.


Here's a test run of one of my fair entries - Blueberry Almond bread. So far I'm getting good reviews, so this recipe is a keeper for the fair.


The 2009 State Fair Sampler Pack: Gingersnaps*, Oatmeal Cookies, Irresistible Brownies*, Blueberry Almond Bread, and Cinnamon Rolls*. (*recipes previously posted)


Making the famous sauerkraut meatballs.

The meatballs are shaped, then chilled overnight.

The next day, the meatballs are dipped in an egg and milk mixture, then rolled in bread crumbs before baking.

My mom and I constructing the spinach pie. The phyllo dough sheets are paper thin, so you must work with them quickly so they do not dry out and tear! This is a two person job. Mom brushed the butter on the sheets, and I laid them in the pan.

The filling for the spinach pie.

Laying down the other half of the phyllo sheets on top of the filling.


The last dish I prepare on Christmas Eve is the famous clam chowder. I learned how to make this in my 9th grade Family Enterprise class at SCC, courtesy again of Ms. Monson. The recipe was a secret passed to her from a former restaurant owner. She held onto it for 10 years, then shared it with us. I've made it every year since then, so it's been about 15 years!

Prep work - every cook's delight and joy.


Clams getting happy in the stock pot.

I have 3 pots going at once in this dish. Clams in one, milk in another, and vegetables in a third. The aptly named "Robo Stove" at Mom and Dad's house, powered by gas, has cut the prep time of this soup in half.

The clam chowder gets to hang out in the crock pot for the rest of the night.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Spice Cake

(bottom shelf, right side, red ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: Spice Cake lot: 2nd place

I started making this cake about 7 years ago, when my dad requested it for his birthday. I entered this category on a whim, and was very pleasantly surprised with the 2nd place ribbon. (The winning cake was made by the Supreme Baker of the Fair, which is the competitor who earns the most points for their entries.) This cake scored very well. The frosting appearance was very smooth, and the layers were even.

2009 Minnesota State Fair Entries

It might sound a little crazed, but I have already planned my entries for the 2009 State Fair. I'm feeling even more ambitious and have 20 entries selected. Hey, if you're going to win a ribbon in every category lot, you have to bake a lot of entries!

Here are the scheduled entries thus far:

Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, White
Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, Herb (Onion Bread)
Yeast Breads, plain dough: Bread, Raisin
Yeast Breads, sweet dough: Coffee Cake
Yeast Breads, sweet dough: Sweet Rolls, plain
Quick Breads: Other fruit bread, may use nuts (Blueberry Almond Bread)
Egg Cakes: Angel food, white
Egg Cakes: Sponge
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, pound
Cakes with Shortening: Vegetable or fruit type (Pumpkin Cake)
Cookies: Chocolate brownies with nuts and/or frosting
Cookies: Cookies, icebox (Chocolate Icebox)
Cookies: Cookies, ball type, not flattened before baking (Gingersnaps)
Cookies: Cookies, chocolate chip
Cookies: Cookies, peanut butter
Cookies: Cookies, oatmeal, no fruit, nuts, chips, or icing
Pies: Pies, Apple
Pies: Pies, Mixed Berry
Pies: Pies, Peach
Ethnic Baking: Ethnic Baking, bread (Julekage)

Some lots were entered in 2008, with results that could be improved. I also finally replaced my dough hook for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer so I could start making more yeast breads. I will be practicing these recipes for the next 9 months!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Banana Bread

(middle shelf, yellow ribbon)
Quick Breads: Banana Bread, nuts, no other fruit lot: 5th place

I used the same recipe for banana bread as I had in 2007. This time, I made sure I had very ripe bananas, and I used 4 bananas. Three isn't really enough to give the best flavor. The loaves must be a certain size to enter in the fair. I made 4 smaller sized loaves so I could pick the most attractive. I won the 5th place ribbon this year, and my score was much higher than last year.

2008 Minnesota State Fair Entries

I was decidedly more ambitious at the State Fair this summer. After my successes in 2007, I decided to enter 13 lots, with a goal to win 8 ribbons. My overall goal for my State Fair baking is to win a ribbon in every baking lot. I did not enter in the three lots I won ribbons in 2007, but I did enter the other two. There are many lots to enter, so it will take quite a few years to accomplish my goal, but I will enjoy trying!

I spent 2 days baking (immediately after taking a final exam in a summer course at the U of M) pies, cakes, cookies, and bread.



This is how my kitchen and table look when I'm baking so many items. Somehow, I manage to fit them all in!




Here are the final entries.



One item of interest this year...I was not aware that not all entries are scored in a lot if there are over 25 entries. Unfortunately, some of my entries fell into that category. I plan to reevaluate my entries and hopefully this will not happen too many more times!

Quick Breads: Banana Bread (5th place)
Egg Cakes: Angel Food Cake (DNP)
Cakes with Shortening: White Cake, with egg whites (2nd place)
Cakes with Shortening: Spice Cake (2nd place)
Cakes with Shortening: Chocolate Cake (4th place)
Cakes with Shortening: Not otherwise specified (1st place)
Cookies: Brownies, with Frosting, Nuts, or Chips (DNP)
Cookies: Chocolate Chip (Not Scored)
Cookies: Ball type, not flattened before baking (DNP)
Cookies: Bar cookie, with Nuts, Fruit, and/or Chips (Not Scored)
Pies: Apple (Not Scored)
Pies: Mixed Berry (DNP)
Pies: Peach (DNP)

2007 Minnesota State Fair: Toffee Bars

3rd Place: Cookies: Bar Cookie, Plain, Frosted lot



This one was a no-brainer entry for me. I have been making these toffee bars for over 10 years, so I knew was I going to enter them. These are a Findlay family favorite. They don't take very long to make - it's an easy recipe. You can use walnuts on top, but I'm partial to pecans.

2007 Minnesota State Fair: Pumpkin Bread

4th Place: Quick Breads: Vegetable Bread lot

This recipe was in a cookbook my aunt made from my grandma's recipe collection. I made the pumpkin bread with pumpkin from my mom's garden. I like to think that was my secret weapon.

2007 Minnesota State Fair: German Chocolate Cake

3rd Place: German Chocolate Cake lot

This was remarkable, as I really had to bang the pans to get the cake out. One of my layers almost came apart. After regaining a semblance of my sanity, I went ahead and constructed the cake, making sure to even out the sides a bit. I got high scores for flavor with this one. My tip: ALWAYS use butter for everything, even when it says you can use margarine. I'm from Wisconsin - it just wouldn't be right without butter.