Bakers wow the judges at the 4-H Food and Nutrition Show

[August 05, 2021]   At noon on Saturday the meeting room at the Logan County Extension Office filled quickly as there were several 4-H members who had entries in the various food and nutrition categories.

For the sake of health and safety, this year organizers divided presentations into specific time slots for specific clubs. The Beason Ag, Chester, Cloverdale 4-Corner Clovers and Hollander clubs were to arrive at noon. Atlanta Ag and Middletown 4-H club members came in at 12:30 p.m. and at 1 p.m. the Hartem Clovers, Pioneers and Wide-a-Wake club members arrived.

Michelle Dawson and Samantha Danosky were the judges for this year.

Danosky is a professional baker who does numerous wedding cakes and other decorated cakes on a weekly basis. She had the great pleasure of being the judge for both decorated cake entries in this year’s show.
 

First up was Reagan Titus who brought in a beautifully decorated patriotic cake. Danosky was very impressed with the young girl’s talents and offered her many words of encouragement.



Reagan explained her choice of design and talked about her decorating techniques with Danosky. The judge carefully balanced praise and criticisms, pointing out the little issues but also giving Reagan tips on how to address those issues in future decorating projects. Danosky said overall that Titus had a lot of talent and a lot of potential. She said that in a few more years, if Titus kept up her practice in decorating, she would give Danosky a run for her money in the decorated cake world.

Titus was entered in the Beginner Food Decorating category and in her first attempt at this art; she won a blue award and will also be the State Fair delegate in the beginner category.



The entire room gasped when Sarah Dahmm walked in with this beautifully decorated wedding cake.



When Sarah arrived at Danosky’s table the judge exclaimed, “Man girl! You’re gonna put me out of business!”

The cake was lovely from top to bottom. The smoothness of the white surface of the cake was even more astonishing when Sarah shared that the frosting was actually buttercream and not fondant.

Sarah and Danosky talked at length on the material selections Sarah had used in her decorating. The flowers and leaves were made of gum paste. The leaves had been cut, but the flowers Sarah had made one petal at a time.

Danosky asked about Sarah’s experience in this category and learned that at 13 years of age, this was the second time Sarah had entered a decorated item at the Logan County Fair judging. She had planned to enter last year, but of course, many of the events were not held because of the pandemic.

Danosky was surprised that Dahmm was only 13 and had already acquired this much skill.

She also shared with Dahmm some of her own techniques. She told the young girl about making marshmallow fondant that is very flavor and fun to work with. Fondant in general is not tasty and judges don’t particularly like to see it on an item they have to taste. Danosky said the marshmallow fondant was quite tasty and that it added to the cake instead of taking away.

They also talked about tools that Dahmm may want to invest in as she grows her talents in decorating.

Dahmm was entered in Intermediate Decorated Foods. She received a blue award and will also be the state fair delegate representing Logan County.



On the other side of the room judge Michelle Dawson had the sweetest job. She was getting the opportunity to taste all the baked goods that the exhibitors brought to her table.

From a variety of cookies to cinnamon rolls, Dawson was having a very sweet day. Each of the kids who came to her table were met with words of praise, and advice when needed, on how to improve their baking skills.

Among the items Dawson had the pleasure of judging was a perfect pie crust by Cavit Schempp that won him a blue ribbon award and a place at the state fair as the delegate in the Foods category.

Daniel Crider also arrived at Dawson’s table with a variety of items from preserves to bread. Crider won blue awards in Food Preservation and Cooking 301 and will also be a State Fair Delegate.



Danosky also had plenty of tasting opportunities as she judged many cakes, biscuits and other sweets throughout the day.

Danosky had plenty of good things to say to each person she judged, but she also noted a concern. Part of the judging process, the exhibitor was to bring in the item baked as well as the recipe used. Many of the recipes came from a book the kids received through 4-H. Danosky noted that every exhibitor had followed the directions but she felt the book was a little misleading in its baking temperatures. She said that in most cases, the items would have been better had the young person baked it at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.

She emphasized that the kids could not be faulted for following the instructions they were given, but the baked goods with the overly brown bottoms could have been avoided if the book had not instructed them to bake at high temperatures.

She used the situation as a teaching opportunity, telling her entrants to not be afraid to experiment as they learn. She said they could try different ingredients, make substitutions, change temps and more. If the end result was better, then great, if not, then try again. She said that good bakers learn from experience what works and what doesn’t.

At the end of the day, Claire Bobell won the award as the Top Foods Exhibitor. State Fair delegates will be Daniel Crider, Cavit Schempp, Faith Sanders, Claire Bobell, Grace Nutter, Rose Catterson, Regan Titus and Sarah Dahmm.

[Nila Smith]