Pretty Ribbons of Blue

Photography courtesy State Fair of Texas
Cook-offs are held in the Creative Arts kitchen, where judges scrutinize, and taste, dozens of entries. new rules limit how many categories contestants can enter, but not how many blue ribbons they can win.

Flashing neon lights on the game-packed midway, the bark of the auctioneer selling steers and sows, the giant Texas Star Ferris wheel, pigs in racing silks, the arc of the human cannonball shooting across the sky into a safety net — all worthy enticements to visit the State Fair of Texas. But the best reason? The food. Fletcher’s Corny Dogs are a perennial favorite, and last year deep-fried butter made its heart-stopping debut. But the gastronomic underbelly of the fair is in the Creative Arts Building, where row upon row of beribboned Mason jars filled with pickles and preserves line the walls and portable bleachers face the real playing field — not the Cotton Bowl, but the roomful of refrigerators and ovens that will soon produce new champions: the cobblers, casseroles, and Spam-topped dishes that will wow the judges and bring hard-earned bragging rights to seasoned home cooks.

Since the fair’s founding in 1886, “There have always been pies, cakes, and breads,” explains Barbara Jones, director of creative arts and special events for the fair. “Farmers would bring their wares to sell and the wives would cook.” Over time it evolved into a competition. Now hundreds of people enter dozens of categories, from baking — the most popular — to barbecuing, canning, and cook-offs, all hoping to take home the coveted blue ribbon for Best of Show. Prizes include nominal cash awards, publishing of the winning recipes in a cookbook, and, in some instances, automatic entry into national competitions with more serious prize money. But it’s still the ribbon that motivates people, Jones says. “Sometimes I give out the check and the winner says, ‘Oh! There’s a prize?’ ”

Sue Rainey, 63, has been entering the State Fair of Texas cooking and baking contests for 25 years and has won more than 700 ribbons. “Back in the day, they didn’t limit us,” says Rainey from her Texas home at Lake Texoma. Now the rules limit how many categories you can enter. “The goal used to be 40 to 50 ribbons per fair. Now, 20 to 25 is a lot.”

Enlarge

In what is a typical story for many contestants, Rainey, an accountant, entered her first contest on a whim with her husband’s favorite coconut cream pie. She ended up with a ribbon along with a new passion. Taking third place shocked even Rainey. “After that, I was addicted!” She has gone on to win ribbons in some of the most competitive categories, like two-crust fruited pies and chocolate cake, and for savory dishes, like the Great American Spam Championship and the “Guess What’s Cook’n” Contest, sponsored by a regional grocery chain.

Carol Adamek, a Dallas homemaker, also entered her first contest on a whim 15 years ago and took home a prize. “I was hooked,” she says. Her daughter, Alexandra, entered the kids’ contest at age 6, taking home the Best of Show ribbon for a macaroon. “It wasn’t very attractive, but it was moist and delicious,” Adamek says. “But she’s not that into it now that she’s 15.” Jill Spears, a Frisco, Texas-based homemaker, puts it this way: “Once you get a ribbon at the Texas state fair, you’re obsessed.”

For these three and others like them, competing at the fair is a serious pastime, and many enter a category per day for the 24 continuous days the fair runs each year. Contests with live judging are held daily in addition to about a half-dozen cook-offs sprinkled throughout the fair and a slew of pre-fair competitions for canning categories, with the winning jars displayed during the fair like museum artifacts. The cook-offs are held in the Creative Arts kitchen, which has space for a limited number of contestants (most of whom return their registration form the day the contest lineup is published in May). “My family knows our kitchen is off-limits and they’re going to be eating out for three weeks,” says Adamek about fair season.

“One year I took in the worst-looking strawberry preserves,” she recalls. “I tried multiple times to win, but it’s one of the biggest contests and chances are very slim. The woman saw little bubbles in my jar and looked at me and said, ‘Oh, honey, let me tell you what you did wrong.’ Apparently I didn’t skim it properly. I turned it in anyway because we have a rule: ‘You make it, you take it.’ I won first place. To break that ceiling with a category like strawberries was awesome.”

The “we” Adamek refers to is a cohort of fellow cooks who make it an annual tradition to give the fair their all. They are working women and men, homemakers and passionate amateur cooks, who come from all walks of life. While there are newcomers to the competitions each year, their group is the old guard, going so far as to share a members-only website, supporting each other in times of need and jokingly prodding each other to let slip what recipes they’ll enter next. “Everybody is fairly competitive,” points out Rainey, “But nobody gets too serious. We all want to win, but all in all everyone is friends.”

Enlarge
Sue Rainey not only won the blue ribbon for her Ultimate Chocolate Cake with Caramel Whipped Cream Filling, she was dubbed the world's best by the queen of home cooks herself, Julia Child, who made an appearance at the State Fair of Texas in the '90s.

Julia Child once visited the fair as a judge in the mid-’90s, sending a frisson of excitement through the ranks of the expectant chefs who entered the perennially popular Chocolate Cake contest. In the end, it was Rainey who took home the prize with her Ultimate Chocolate Cake with Caramel Whipped Cream Filling.

“That was a great day,” Rainey recalls. “When my cake got on the table and Julia tried it, I just couldn’t believe it. When they called my name, I was beside myself. She was doing a cooking demo at the Dallas Farmers Market and she invited my mother and me to go down there. When I walked in, she announced my name and said I was the best chocolate cake maker in the world, and everyone stood up. That was amazing.”

Sue Rainey’s Ultimate Chocolate Cake with Caramel Whipped Cream Filling

Rainey has won ribbons for her nut brittles, pralines, and lemon pie, but it was her Ultimate Chocolate Cake that caught the eye of Julia Child. “This sounds complicated,” Rainey acknowledges, “but it is very easy to make.”

Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa


• 2 cups sugar


• 1 cup vegetable oil


• 1 cup hot coffee


• 1 cup milk


• 2 eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• Bourbon to brush on layers

Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add oil, coffee, and milk; mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat 2 more minutes. Pour into two or three greased and floured 9-inch pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 30–35 minutes or until a cake tester in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes for 10 minutes before removing from pans, then cool completely on cooling racks. Split the cake layers in half and brush each layer with bourbon. Spread Caramel Whipped Cream Filling between each layer. Frost top and sides with Chocolate Frosting. Garnish with chocolate curls and dust with powdered sugar.

Caramel Whipped Cream Filling

• 2 cups sugar


• 1/2 cup water


• 4 cups heavy whipping cream


• 1 tablespoon bourbon

Stir sugar and water in heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil without stirring until syrup turns deep amber color, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush; cook about 12 minutes. Add 2 cups whipping cream (mixture will bubble up). Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 2 cups whipping cream. Stir until caramel bits are melted and mixture is smooth, about 4 minutes. Pour caramel filling into large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Using an electric mixer, beat filling to stiff peaks. Add 1 tablespoon bourbon and beat to blend. (The filling can be prepared up to 2 days ahead; beat filling when ready to use.)

Chocolate Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted


• 1/4 cup butter, softened


• 6 tablespoons cocoa


• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil


• 1/4 teaspoon salt



Approximately cup milk




2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, oil, and salt. Gradually add milk and beat until you get a spreading consistency. If frosting is too thick, add more milk a little at a time until it is spreadable. Stir in vanilla extract. Frost top and sides of cake.

The 2009 State Fair of Texas Prize Winning Cookbook is currently available and contains recipes for everything from pickles and hot sauce to jellies and jams to brisket and barbecue. But also be on the lookout for the 2010 edition, which contains Peter Clarac’s Best of Show-winning Cheesy Chorizo Strata. Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, who taped The Oprah Winfrey Show at the 2009 State Fair of Texas, named Clarac’s dish as one of their two Best of the Best selections. To order a copy of the annual State Fair of Texas cookbook, send a check or money order for $30 to: State Fair of Texas, Creative Arts Department, P.O. Box 150009, Dallas, Texas 75315.

Issue: July 2010

Filed under: Travel, Leisure, Lodging