Today, the Ferguson Farmer’s Market had its pie contest. Yoli really likes these dessert contests.
Last year, the market structured the contests around various fruits. One week they’d have a berry contest, and any sort of berry creation was okay to enter. We weren’t so fond of that. But Yoli did take first place with her Strawberry Palmiers.
In 2007, her apple cranberry pie came in second at Ferguson’s Fourth of July pie contest. This was a big contest, with 35 entries.
Today’s pie contest wasn’t as big, only 9 entries. Still, they were all pretty tasty-looking and the judges commented on how tough a choice it was.
Yoli recently tried out a cherry pie recipe, but we didn’t feel it was contest-worthy. And with all the hubbub surrounding the arrival and stay of her parents, she never really had a chance to experiment again with other recipes.
So she fell back on the apple cranberry pie, but created a different crust/cover design than what she used 2 years ago. This one featured lots of stars around the border and shooting stars in the middle to evoke fireworks.
One of the other entrants remarked to me that only 3 of the pies had truly flaky crusts, Yoli’s being one of those.
I could tell that some of the judges had Yoli’s pie on their list, but one or two of them didn’t. I overheard a discussion between two judges, one saying she thought Yoli’s pie was too sweet, the other laughing and saying he thought it was a bit too tart. People’s tastes can be pretty tricky. I tried the pie later myself, but I thought it was a pretty good balance between tart and sweet. (My personal preference with apple pies is for more tart)
Ultimately, Yoli’s pie didn’t place. But the judges decided to make hers an honorable mention because they thought the crust was so outstanding.
It was fun to watch the proceedings, and Yoli’s parents were there for the experience. Yoli’s dad and her grandfather were bakers, so there is a family history of excellence in pastries.
Of course the most fun part was sampling all the contest entries.
Congratulations, Yoli, for having the stamina to enter the contest while balancing the mom gig AND with your parents in the country! I get tired just thinking about all you do. You are an excellent baker and I know there’s another blue ribbon in your future. PS Thanks for the wonderful posts, Josh.
Felicidades, creo que tu pae era el mejor, y me dio mucho gusto ver a pap� y a mam� en la foto, Jadzia se ve muy linda, creo que se divierte mucho.