Raspberry Wrap Up

This is a fact: the week of the Johnson County Fair is ALWAYS the hottest week of the year! I think it's like 100 degrees outside right now!

Despite all my good intentions, I did not make it to bed at a reasonable hour on Monday night. Frosting my cake with buttercream icing proved to be problematic, even in my air conditioned house. The kitchen was hot because I'd been baking all day. I got the cookies finished without a problem. I had visions of doing a basketweave finish on the cake. One of the things I've learned from years of competition is that presentation really matters. You want your product to really WOW the judges before they even taste it. Judges like pretty food. I got out all my cake decorating tools and got ready to ice the cake... and my buttercream proceeded to melt faster than I could ice the cake. I gave up the basketweave idea right away. Then I had to keep putting the cake and icing back in the refrigerator every time the icing got too runny. All I wanted at this point was pretty swirls at the bottom and top of the cake. It took me until 2 am to accomplish that.

So here's the cake...

Raspberry White Chocolate Buttercream Torte

I refrigerated it overnight and then took it to the fair in a cooler. I cannot tell you how many years I've had icing slide off my cake or simply melt into oblivion while transporting it to the fair! I would even drive my car around the block with the AC on full blast until it was ice cold inside and the icing would still melt. I finally figured out I needed to put it in a large cooler so get it there in one piece.

I created the cake recipe for this contest. It's a white cake and I put raspberry jello in it for the raspberry product that was baked in. I spread raspberry preserves on top, then put cut raspberries and buttercream icing between the layers and prayed it all tasted good together since I've never made it before.

cake after it had been judged



So here's how the judging worked. Everyone was awarded either a first, second, or third based on the merit of the product - so everyone gets a ribbon in this contest. Then, the judges keep all the first place winners and select 6 Honorable Mentions, a Reserve Champion, and Champion in each of the 4 categories. They then pick the overall Grand Champion from the 4 Champions.

My cake placed first in the Miscellaneous category, then got a Honorable Mention.

Here are my cookies...

Raspberry Linzer Cookies

They placed first, then got a Honorable Mention.

I used a linzer cookie recipe I've made lots of times before but added a teaspoon of raspberry preserves to the cookie ingredients to comply with the rules, then sandwiched the baked cookies with raspberry preserves. I had second thoughts about my cookie choice in the middle of the night because I worried there wasn't enough raspberry flavor in the cookies. In this contest, the judges really want to be able to taste the theme flavor right away. I worried there was too much cookie and not enough raspberry. I guess it was good enough for an Honorable Mention though! Another thing the judges look for is that they want all your cookies to look exactly the same - same size, same thickness, same brownness, etc. - I knew I had that point nailed with these cookies so maybe that made up for the "lack" of "in your face raspberry flavor!"

My muffins also placed first, then got an Honorable Mention. I was pretty happy with these. I actually made two batches. I made the first batch in a new nonstick muffin pan. They came out tasting great but the bottom and sides were really brown. I personally like them this way but the judges feel they are overbaked when they are brown on the bottom. I got out my old muffin pan that isn't quite as dark and remade them, then picked out the 6 that looked like twinsies, or I guess sextuplets, turned them all over to make sure the bottoms matched, then turned them in.

My pie got a second. The bottom crust was a bit soggy. I used a brand new pie crust recipe and a raspberry pie filling recipe that I had never made before so I guess I can't be too upset. I usually bake all my pies for an hour. This recipe called for only 40 minutes of baking time. Since I had never made a raspberry pie before, I followed the directions and ended up with a soggy crust. That's one of the risks of not practicing a recipe before you enter it in a contest. I just didn't have time to practice this one this year.

Overall though, I had a pretty good day...



I brought my kids and their friends to the fair. They went to the Midway and absolutely roasted. I found them in a puddle inside the doors to the Extension Office when I got done. We walked around some more until their ride bracelets expired at 5pm, then went out to eat on the way home. I just collapsed into bed when we got home. Next thing I knew, it was 10 pm. I didn't get my run in in the morning so I didn't get a run in at all. I'm switching my schedule around and will try to do my tempo run tonight. I might be doing it indoors if it doesn't cool down this evening. That puts me doing my 13 miler after work tomorrow.

How is everyone else dealing with the heat?

Any "cool" ideas?