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The upper crust
By JANET K. KEELER © St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2001
Last Thursday evening, the night before the Florida State Fair competition, she moved quickly in stocking feet around the small kitchen of her Clearwater home, measuring, mixing, hoping. She was nearly giddy as the "perfect" creamy, yellow batter slid into a springform pan bolstered with aluminum foil to keep it from seeping. "I've got a good feeling about this recipe," she said. "I think it's a winner." McFarland, 51, knows something about winning recipes. She has been taking home ribbons from the State Fair baking competition since she first entered in 1996. That year, her sweet potato rolls garnered a blue ribbon. She had a good feeling about them, too.
"It's the most exhilarating feeling when it comes out good," McFarland said. At noon Friday the judges saw things a little differently. "I'm getting an artificial taste here," said judge Betty Couch of Tampa as she sampled McFarland's coffee cake. "Is it canned pie filling? (No, McFarland peeled and sliced two tart Granny Smiths.) Are the nuts a little old?" (McFarland said later she used nuts that had been frozen and maybe that gave them an off taste. Contestants are not allowed at the judging.) Couch and fellow judge Blanche Miller of Largo studied the coffee cake. They applauded the flavor and consistency in general, but a blueberry muffin cake drew them away. It was not as attractive as McFarland's entry, but the flavor was perfect. The blue ribbon went to Carol Weathersbee of Plant City. McFarland got third. There were no tears from McFarland at the awards ceremony Friday afternoon, though. This year's competition was her most successful. She won a ribbon for each of the five items she entered including two first places that went on to win best-of-show awards. Her Coconut Cream Pie with Pineapple was deemed tops of any pies entered, and a rum-tinged Jamaican Banana Bread was awarded the best-of-show rosette in the breads division. Calling all cooks
There were 380 entries this year for both the youth and adult competition. That may sound like a lot until you know that Pat Kobella of Zephyrhills entered 23 items, and Carolyn Hepler of Lehigh Acres, east of Fort Myers, hauled 26 containers of pies, cookies, cakes and candy into the Charles M. Davis Special Events Center at the fairgrounds. (She would have had 29 entries, but she "just ran out of time.") The majority of competitors enter multiple items. There was a time when entries, mostly cookies, would come in the mail from all over the state, said Lois Duffy of the fair's Family Living Center, which oversees the home arts competitions, among them crafts, art and food. Nothing came in the mail this year. The 2001 baking competition drew one of the lowest numbers of entries ever. A new competition in snacks, dips, spreads and salads garnered 80 entries and will be judged Saturday. Pleased with the interest in the new category, Duffy worries about the falling numbers in the baking competition, a tradition at state fairs all over the country. One of the purposes of the fair is to preserve and promote home arts, history and rural American traditions (and sell corn dogs and funnel cakes!) and she believes baking is worth preserving. She is not sure why people don't enter the way they used to. The success of Anne Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor (Workman Publishing, 1999) might hold some clues. The Cake Mix Doctor, in which all recipes begin with a cake mix, has been a top-selling cookbook for more than a year. Thousands of home cooks embraced Byrn's way of baking, thinking it easier to add ingredients to enhance a mix of flour, sugar, leavening agents and flavorings than to make something from scratch. For many, it seems better to bake this way, but mixes are not allowed in fair competition. Bread machines, slow cookers and programmable coffee pots are indicators that most of us think there is not enough time in our days. How could we ever squeeze in a pie crust? In addition, the rise in popularity of celebrity chefs and the proliferation of TV cooking shows, a la the Food Network, haven't necessarily translated into more cooks in the kitchen. Perhaps we are becoming a nation of cooking spectators who know what a zester looks like but don't have a clue how to use it. All of this makes no difference to McFarland. Cooking relaxes her, entertains her, validates her. Her co-workers at TSI Telecommunications Services Inc. in Tampa alternately hate her (the dieters) and love her (everybody else and sometimes the dieters) for the goodies she brings to the office. Last Christmas, six co-workers gladly plunked down $10 each for her eggnog cake and served it at their holiday gatherings. McFarland's success at the fair, and at other baking competitions, prove that great things can come from small kitchens. While she cooks, recipes are perched on the top of the microwave, the stove top is used to hold a bowl of crumb topping and sliced apples find a home on the dining room table. A cobalt blue KitchenAid mixer takes up precious space on her limited counter top. Her pots and pans are 30 years old, though they don't look it. Six baskets bulging with bakeware and other supplies are neatly stored on top of the cabinets. She is a grandmother of five, soon to be six, and, though she may cook like a granny, she doesn't much fit the stereotype. McFarland is thin as a cinnamon stick, with gauzy, gray-peppered hair and not a speck of splatter on her pink jeans and white T-shirt. She doesn't have much use for aprons. Her first creation was a mud pie when she was a 10-year-old child growing up in the Washington, D.C., area. From that moment, she says, she was hooked. "I've always been fascinated with how things work, and I think that is what drew me to baking," she said. "It's amazing to see how all these ingredients can make something great." The fair competition provides an outlet for her hobby, if not a lot of prize money. A blue ribbons pays $12, a best of show $25. She's not getting rich, but she's having fun. If she could snag the top prize in the $1-million Pillsbury Bake-Off, things would be different, but she's had no luck in the handful of times she's entered. An original crust
When the pie judges sample her pie, they know right away they've tasted a Best in Show. The crust is perfect, they say, the flavor intense. Best in Show in pies was not exactly what McFarland expected, but how could she, not ever having tasted her own pie? "I think I'm going to cry," she said as she gazed at her seventh ribbon of the competition. "This is so exciting." She'll be back next year along with the other regulars, McFarland said, as she gathered her ribbons and the remains of her entries. In the meantime, she'll collect recipes from magazines and cookbooks, try some new ones and use her colleagues (or next year's judges) as guinea pigs. On this day, though, she is savoring success, and it tastes sweeet. IF YOU GOThe Florida State Fair continues through Sunday at the fairgrounds off Interstate 4 in Tampa. Parking lots open at 8 a.m. daily, and gates open at 9 a.m. Closing times varies. Admission is $7 adults, $4 for children ages 6-11 and free for children 5 and younger. Parking is free. For more information, call (813) 621-7821 or check http://www.floridastatefair.com. * * * Winners of the craft, art and food preservation competitions are on display at the Florida Living Center. (Baked goods are not.) If you are interested in getting information on competitions for next year, call the main number for the fair (listed above) and ask for the Family Living Center. Until this year's fair is over, the folks who work there are at their busiest. You'll get more attention if you wait a few weeks to call for information for 2002 contests. Jamaican Banana Bread (2001 State Fair Best of Show, Breads)
For topping:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9-inch loaf pan and a 7-inch loaf pan with vegetable spray. Beat 3 tablespoons butter and cream cheese at medium speed; add 11/2 cups sugar, beating well. Add eggs; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in separate bowl; set aside. In another bowl, combine banana and next 5 ingredients (through vanilla), stirring well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition. Stir in chopped pecans and coconut. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 9-inch loaf for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. (Smaller loaf requires less time.) Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. While bread is baking, make topping. Combine brown sugar, butter, lime juice and rum in a saucepan; bring to a simmer. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans and coconut. After bread has cooled slightly on a wire rack, spoon topping over loaf. Source: Ellen McFarland, Clearwater. Coconut Cream Pie with Pineapple (2001 State Fair Best of Show, Pies)For eggnog crust:
For filling:
For whipped topping:
To make crust, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, frozen coconut, nutmeg and granulated sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cut in Butter-Flavor Crisco until mixture is the size of peas. Add eggnog gradually, while forming a ball. Roll out on well-floured board and carefully lift into an 8-inch pie pan (dough will be somewhat sticky and crumbly). Flute edges and prick pie shell. Bake until golden brown (8-10 minutes). Cool. To prepare filling, drain pineapple in a colander and spoon into the prepared crust. (To get as much moisture out of pineapple, have it draining while pie crust is being prepared.) Combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan and stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute, stirring custard constantly with a whisk. Gradually pour from pan about 1/3 cup hot custard to temper the beaten eggs; stir constantly with a whisk. Add tempered egg mixture to remainder of custard mixture in pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove mixture from heat; stir in cream of coconut and extracts. Spoon mixture into the prepared crust. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap; chill until set, about 2 hours. For topping, beat whipped cream in small bowl until soft peaks form. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread on top of chilled pie and top with coconut. Source: Ellen McFarland, Clearwater. Walnut-Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan or 9- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Combine 1 cup nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. For topping, cut the 1/4 cup butter into the 1/3-cup of flour to make coarse crumbs. Stir into that three-quarters of the nut mixture (reserving a third) and set topping aside. Toss apples with lemon juice; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the 13/4 cup flour, baking powder, soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Beat in granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately to batter. Beat on low speed after each addition until combined. Spread 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with reserved nut mixture. Lay apples over top. Gently spread remaining batter over apples. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake 10 minutes then sprinkle with 1/2 cup more nuts. Bake 45-50 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If usingspringform pan, remove side. Cool at least 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired. Source: Ellen McFarland, Clearwater.
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