Posted by Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV on August 04, 2008 at 13:12:28:
Bluefield chefs put the squeeze on lemons for bake-off
By JAMIE PARSELL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, Va. — A true baker knows how to take lemons — that tart and sour fruit — and create a refreshing dessert. Perfect for summer and equally appropriate to celebrate Lemonade Days in Bluefield, Va., area bakers squared off in the third annual lemon bake-off, sponsored by the Cornerstone Gift Shop.
According to Sharon Borich, the chairwoman of Lemonade Days in Bluefield, Va., lemonade may be popular, but so is lemon desserts.
“It is just a particular taste,” Borich said.
Bluefield, Va., resident Judith Dalton describes a lemon dessert as tart, but with a refreshing flavor. Using a recipe handed down by her mother, Verbena Shaffer, Dalton created a lemon meringue pie with homemade crust. It took her two hours to make the pie from start to finish.
“It is worth it,” Dalton said.
The pie is a traditional family recipe, one that began when Dalton was just a baby. It will be passed down to her own daughter.
Janie Barnett, originally from Bluefield, Va., was sitting at home in Bland when she read about the lemon bake -off.
“I just started cooking. I forced it into the pan and put on the icing while the cake was still red hot,” Barnett said.
Using a recipe that is more than 100 years old, Barnett carried the luscious lemon-filled angel food cake with one hand from Bland to Bluefield. Barnett began using the recipe in 1987, after an elderly client told her the recipe.
“She told me all of her secrets. I bet I have made over 1,000 of these cakes,” Barnett said.
At least eight different types of lemon desserts lined up the table inside of The Last Foun-tain on Friday. The winner of the contest — with an entry of easy lemon bars — was Mary Williams of Bluefield, Va. The 12-year-old girl, a student at Graham Middle, made the bars with a recipe given to her from her mother, Jackie Williams.
“I have given her a few project this summer,” said Williams. “I still can’t believe that she won. There were some pretty cakes and pies down there.”
Second place went to Pat Jones of Bluefield, Va., for her lemon cake. Third prize went to Bill Marrs’ lemon chess pie.
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