Posts Tagged ‘Baking’

With Thanksgiving just around the corner and the winter holidays following close behind, our hearts naturally turn to the steadfast, soul-soothing, family tradition, the American holiday food staple: pie.  At every potluck supper and family holiday dinner, you’ll see the little round beauties in all their delicious glory.  You may even be one of the bringers-of-pie, a guardian of tradition, a sentinel of holiday joy.  At the State Fair, we love pie.  And we think pie bakers are pretty special, too.

This week, we’re especially filled with holiday spirit, because we got to try our hand at baking the 2011 Oklahoma State Fair First Place Pillsbury Pie Crusts Championship recipe.  We were nervous.  We generally like to leave important things like this to the pros—our exhibitors.  But it has chocolate, and our desire to share the fantastic recipe won us over.  In the end, this pie had all of our taste-testers giving thanks.

Royal Almond Delight Pie

By first place winner, Jennifer Howeth

Crust

1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box

Chocolate Filling

½ cup whipping cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ teaspoon vanilla

Almond Butter Filling

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup almond butter

1 cup powdered sugar

Topping

2½ cups Cool Whip

1 cup toasted coconut

½ cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions

Heat oven to 450F.  Bake pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using 9-inch pie plate.  Cool completely on cooling rack, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat ½ cup whipping cream over medium heat until hot.  Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and the vanilla until smooth.  Cool for 15 minutes and then spread chocolate filling in bottom of baked crust.  Let set until firm.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, almond butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.  Carefully spread over chocolate filling.

Spread Cool Whip over almond butter filling and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.  Just before serving, mix together toasted coconut and toasted almonds; sprinkle over Cool Whip.  Cut into wedges to serve.

Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie. That is, if you have any remaining pie…

Winning pie entry in the 2010 Pillsbury Pie Baking Contest

Entering your projects and recipes in the Oklahoma State Fair is as easy as pie!  The Fair offers an extensive variety of opportunities to showcase your creativity.  Whether you love cooking, quilting, woodwork, antiquing, or any number of other hobbies, there is a place for you in the Creative Arts contests.  In fact, we challenge you to find a creative hobby that doesn’t have a contest!  There truly is something for everyone.

Step 1: Gather your supplies

To submit an entry, you will need a competition guide and an entry form (or you can register online, but we’ll get to that later). The Creative Arts Program is divided into six different departments, so it’s easy to find the right Guides for each of your interests.  You can download the Guides right here, or you can visit the Oklahoma State Fair Web site and find the Guides there, too.

Cooking—cooking, canning, baking…if you can eat it, you can find it here.

China, Ceramics, and Antiques—this department includes classes for antique toys and dolls as well as china painting and ceramics.

Fine Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies—the crafty catch-all department, this is the place to start if you’re not sure where to begin.  Includes a place to enter your collections, too.

Junior Arts and Crafts—for the 18 and under crowd.

Needlecraft—everything sewn, quilted, embroidered, woven, knitted and crocheted.

Photography—a place to enter your photos and some other interesting photo-based contests.

Read up on your Competition Guides, paying special attention to important dates on page 3 of each Guide.  All contests are free when you register by August 15^th, and there is no limit on how many different divisions an individual may enter.

Step 2: Get inspired!

Did you know that Creative Arts exhibits don’t have to be made specifically for the Fair?  Anything that you have made, painted, sewn, canned, or otherwise fabricated since September 2010 is eligible for entry.  But there are other exciting categories in which you can accept the creative challenge and whip something up just for the occasion.  Contests like Fancy Feet, Ugliest Cake, and the all-new Breast Cancer Awareness: Beautiful Bras! are all designed to inspire individual creativity.  Cruise through the Competition Guides to see what strikes your fancy, then go for it!

Step 3: Apply a generous amount of creativity

Spruce up your quilts and woodworked pieces, get artsy on your craft projects, and fire up the oven for some trial runs of those delicious recipes.  Most importantly, have fun experimenting and preparing to share your work with other cooks and crafters as well as over 1.1 million Fair attendees.

Step 4: Submit your registration

Fill out the entry form with the appropriate information.  You can also register online.  (Here are some helpful tips for online registration.)  All contests are free if you register by August 15.  When you register between August 16 and September 1, a $10 fee will be charged per person (not per exhibit).  When you register after September 2, a $15 fee will be charged per person.

Tip:  Some of our divisions include limits on how many entries we’re able to accommodate.  Check your Competition Guide, and don’t put off registration until the last minute!

Step 5: Show it off

Unless you’re entering a “LIVE” contest, you’ll need to bring your items to the exhibit drop off on September 10 or 11 between noon and 5pm.  Here, you’ll receive a claim check that will work like a coat check—you get half the ticket and the other half stays with your item so it can be identified when you come back to pick it up on the designated pick up days after the Fair.

You can tell the difference between live contests and regular entries by looking at the very front page of your Competition Guide.  If your contest says “LIVE,” guess what?  It’s a live contest!  For live contests, you should follow the instructions in the Guide for your specific contest regarding when and where to bring your exhibits.  If you pre-register for a live contest that’s listed in the Competition Guides, you will receive free Fair admission and a parking pass on the day of your contest.

Step 6: Congratulate yourself and enjoy the Fair!

Here’s your chance to see how your exhibit ‘faired’ against the competition!  The thousands of Creative Arts contest exhibits will be on display September 15-25.  You will have to attend the Fair to see your placing or wait until the contest results are posted online.  We suggest attending the Fair to see your ribbons in person, because you’ll have the opportunity to check out all of your fellow entrants’ work and be inspired for 2012!