Due in Saturday July 30th...
Peanut Butter Cookies
Decorated Cookies
Filled Cookies
Other Cookies
Other Yeast Rolls
Specialty Diet Item
Due in Sunday July 31st...
Other Single Layer Cake
Multiple Layer Coconut Cake
Other Multiple Layer Cake
Cakes need to be brought in between 1-4 pm and there will be open judging at 4 pm. This is the first year EVER that I will be able to make it to the Open Cake judging and part of the reason why I decided to enter the Fair this year.
So... worked an overnight shift last night but actually got a couple hours of decent rest at work. Came home and slept til 11 am. Now I feel fine (unlike yesterday where I did the same thing but didn't get any good sleep in the morning and was trashed all day). Time to get to work!
First thing I did was make the cookie dough for my peanut butter cookies. They are my "XL Bakery Style Peanut Butter Cookies" that took First at the Johnson County Fair. They are a copycat recipe I found of the ginormous peanut butter cookies they sell at Disney. I saw them when we were there over Spring Break but they were about $5 a cookie! Not kidding!
Next I made the dough for my decorated cookies. I used the Roslyn Bakery recipe for their Happy Face cookies (recipe HERE in the blog post about My Favorite Iced Cookies). Both cookie doughs need to chill for several hours so I popped them in the refrigerator for tomorrow.
For my "Other" category cookie I decided to make Florentine Lace Cookies; another recipe out of the Roslyn Bakery cook book. I love lace cookies. On my first try last week I tried out a coconut lace cookie recipe that I'd found on Pinterest. They were a total fail.
Next I tried out the Roslyn Bakery recipe two days ago. They looked fine the day I made them. The question was how they'd hold up after a couple days as I planned to make the cookies on Friday, turn them in on Saturday, and they probably would not be judged until Sunday at the earliest. I was worried they would not stay crisp. Today I took the couple I had made on Tuesday and tried them out.
Florentine Lace Cookies
They still tasted OK today so I decided this would be my Other category cookie. I still had plenty of cookie dough left in the refrigerator from Tuesday so I will try that out tomorrow. This cookie dough is not something that needs chilled so I'll just have to see how the cookies turn out tomorrow as refrigerating the dough changes it. If it doesn't work, the dough mixes up in a snap so it's no big deal.
Cookie dough for tomorrow
I decided to make the Toasted Coconut Quinoa Breakfast Cookies that I had made for the Johnson County Fair as my Specialty Diet item. Quite honestly, I wasn't 100% crazy about the cookie but it fit the bill for all the "healthy" requirements. The Specialty Diet item just has to be something for a "special" diet such as gluten-free, dairy free, etc. Originally I had thought about entering the Mocha Pecan Torte that had won the Sweepstakes for single layer cakes last year because it is gluten free.
Last year's Mocha Pecan Torte
However... I also thought the judges would be looking for something more "healthy" than a chocolate and nut laden Mocha Pecan Torte, even if it was gluten free. The Toasted Coconut Quinoa Breakfast cookies are gluten free, dairy free, and contains no refined sugars. Plus, it's easy to make. I just had to pick up some really ripe bananas at the grocery store for that.
Other last minute things from the grocery store... pasteurized egg whites for my royal icing, more almonds and almond flour for my cakes, blackberries...
I'm still indecisive about a couple items. My last cookie, the Filled Cookie, just isn't working out. I am fixated on making some kind of shortbread cookie with a filling. When the Maple Shortbread was too overpowering for a filling I decided to try Pistachio Shortbread with chocolate filling.
I tried a variety of different combinations today but nothing tastes right. I don't like my shortbread recipe.
experimenting...
Unfortunately I have to leave for work in an hour now so I guess I'll just have to figure something out tomorrow.
For my Other Yeast Rolls, I'll do the Pesto Rolls I did for the Johnson County Fair.
For Cakes, I had my heart set on a layered coconut cream cake and an almond cake with hints of orange and coconut. I think I've got the coconut cream cake figured out. As for the almond... while I was looking for an almond cake recipe I came across the perfect recipe for my Other Single Layer cake. Unfortunately... it was an almond cake too.
French Almond Cake... isn't it beautiful?
Now I'm wondering whether it's a good idea to enter two almond flavored cakes. They won't be competing against each other but, still... would a judge place two of the same flavored cakes, even if they were in different categories? Still, I have my heart set on an almond layer cake... so now I'm changing it a bit and doing almond with blackberries. I also didn't have time to practice the almond layer cake so I'm winging it with this one.
Praying for an uneventful night at work so I can dive into baking tomorrow!
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