Posted by Plattsmouth Journal, NE on August 09, 2008 at 19:30:25:
Carrot pie wins first place in county fair
Friday, Aug 08, 2008 - 11:05:08 am CDT
Patti Jo Peterson
If you like carrot cake, you might just like the first-place Open Class pie entered by Susan Platt during this year’s Cass County Fair.
The annual pie contest was conducted Thursday evening at the fairgrounds with Jeanene Wehrbein and her daughter-in-law, Kari Wehrbein, judging the 20 pie entries. Pies in this category included cherry, pineapple, raisin cream, apple, peach cream, strawberry, rhubarb, pecan and chocolate cream pie.
Stephen Hunt and Judy Schwab judged the 13 peach pies, which comprised a special contest during the event.
Platt took first-place in miscellaneous with a Pecan-topped Carrot Pie that earned her $10 and a rosette. Diane Bolin earned the second-place award of $7 and a rosette with what Jeanene dubbed "as the best rhubarb pie you could ever eat."
In third place in miscellaneous was Connie Bruns’ Peach Cream Pie, earning the baker $5 and a rosette.
Jeanene told audience members that chosing the winner was really tough. "We had pretty much made up our minds on two until we got to the miscellaneous category," she said. "Here was this carrot pie. It is outstanding. It’s like making a sweet potato pie with a pecan crust."
Diane Bolin’s daughter, Marie Bolin, baked the first-place peach pie in a special category, and earned her a $50 cash prize in addition to a rosette.
After the contest, Jeanene gave bakers a few tips about entering pies into contests with award prizes. "Uniqueness is what wins a contest," she said.
She also cautioned bakers about using store-purchased graham cracker or regular pie crust.
"If you’re going to enter a pie in a cooking contest make the actual crust," she said.
Hunt and Schwab also had tips for the bakers.
Hunt said the crust makes up at least 50 percent of his decision. A good crust, he explained, is flaky and not grainy in texture.
He also stressed the importance of including the crust’s recipe with the entry. "Always tell what the crust is made out of whether it’s Crisco or lard. Lard makes the best crust. We look at the crust and hot the top of the crust is done. We need to know whether it’s been basted with milk or butter, and whether its been topped with sugar or simple sugar," Hunt said. "Even if you brush the top with water — it’s an ingredient — we need to know that."
The entry’s appearance also plays an important part in judging. "Eye appeal is something people eat with first," Hunt said. "There were a number of pies that were decorated and that means points."
Schwab also stressed appearance as a key in judging. "Appearance is the first thing. It’s like our first impression," she said.
She complimented bakers who took time to flute the edges of the crust or do latticed crusts. "On some there was no fluting and it takes away from the appearance," Schwab said.
Of course, the most important aspect of the pie is its flavor, Hunt went on to say. "We taste the flavor of the filling," he said.
In the traditional peach pie category Hunt judged, the flavor of the fruit was the key. "We wanted to know if you taste the peach flavor first or whether the other ingredients hit you first," he said.
With one of the entries, the almond flavor overwhelmed the fruit, he said.
"What we want to taste tonight is just peach," he said.
The viscosity of the filling is also important. "Does the pie run? You want to have some of the juice just run away from the crust," Hunt said.
For bakers who want to recreate the award-winning pies in general pie category, the recipes are included below. As of press time, the Journal was unable to publish the first-place peach pie recipe, because Marie Bolin was unable to attend the judging.
Pecan-Topped Carrot Pie
Entered by Susan Platt
Ingredients
4 cups of sliced fresh carrots
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Add 1-inch of water to a large saucepan, then add carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat: cover and cook 9-11 minutes until tender. Drain, then cool carrots.
Place carrots, milk eggs, pumpkin spice and cinnamon in a blender.
Cover and process until pureed and process one minute longer. Pour into a pastry shell. Combine pecans, brown sugar and butter, then sprinkle over filling. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until knife comes out clean and edges are brown.
Rhubarb Pie
Submitted by Diane Bolin
Pie crust
2 cups of flower, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup lard, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1/4-cup cold water.
With a pastry blender, cut lard and Crisco into flour and salt. When crumbly, sprinkle water over flour mixture and stir with a fork. Make two "patties." Roll on the floured board.
Rhubarb filling
4 cups of chopped rhubarb, two eggs, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup flour.
Stir together and pour in crust. Brush pie edge with water. Place top crust on and press together edges. Form decorative edge. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes until crust is golden.
Peach Cream Pie
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup sour cream, 1 egg slightly beaten, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and two cups of sliced fresh peaches (Colorado are the best).
Topping:
1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 14 cup soft butter, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Combine sugar, flour and salt. Beat in cream, egg and vanilla. Add sliced peaches and pour into a 9-inch pastry-lined pie pan. Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes. Remove pie from oven. Sprinkle topping over pie, and return to 400-degree oven and bake 10 minutes more.
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