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Rose Harrold takes the cake in the
Friday Culinary judging at the Logan County Fair
[August 03, 2025]
On Friday morning at the Logan
County Fair, sweetness filled the air as the second portion of the
Department O Dairy and Culinary judging took place. This section is
exclusively for Candies, Snack Foods, and Cakes. The cake portion of
the judging is very intense because the winners of the individual
cake categories are the first ones who will be invited to
participate in the Logan County Fair Cake Classic on Sunday. That
bake off competition produces approximately a half dozen amazingly
delicious cakes that will then be auctioned off to the highest
bidder.
The Department O judging is run by co-superintendents Janel Estel
and Marcia Greenslate along with their committee of Ron Estel and
Linda McCuan. Helping out this year were three local youth
introduced by first name only as Tucker, Jayden, and Sarah.
This year the judge was Brenda Silano, a retired teacher who served
for 24 years at Lincoln Community High School. By way of
self-introduction, she shared that during that time she taught a two
hour culinary class she and her students loved. She said that the
class baked many, many cakes, and they baked the cakes for every
special occasion for the school. She said another part of the class
was that the students would in the first hour make treats and snacks
and then in the second hour would go about the school selling those
treats to fellow students.
Soon after this, the judging began with the candy portion. The first
class was Peanut Clusters with seven entries. The first four places
received ribbons for their outstanding efforts. Those ribbons were
given to Peggy Sanders with fourth place, Ava Sanders with third,
Carlene Carter with Second. The first place winner was Brooke
Harnacke.
In the Peanut Brittle category Shelly Johnson took fourth, Olivia
Gibson took third, and Carlene Carter was the second place winner.
The first place winner in the
peanut brittle was Peggy Sanders. Sanders had her photo taken with
Logan County Fair royalty Queen Julia, Jr. Miss Courtney and Little
Miss Vayda.
The next category was Fudge Without Marshmallow. There was a little
bit of confusion in this class and Judge Silano ended having to
sample the entries twice. Greenslate explained that one candy had
been placed in the wrong grouping and it wasn’t discovered for a
while, so in fairness the only thing to do was back up and judge the
class again.
The second time around the fourth place finish went to Shelly
Johnson, third to Brooke Harnacke, and second to Carlene Carter.
The first place winner in Fudge
without Marshmallow was Kathleen Buse who again had a photo with the
queens.
The Caramels category was next with
Patty Huffer taking the first place ribbon. Second went to Carlene
Carter, Third to Rose Harrold, and fourth to Peggy Sanders.
In the Divinity category there was
only one entrant, Carlene Carter who took the first place ribbon.
Next was Fudge with Marshmallow and
the winner of the category was Kathleen Buse, Coming in second was
Brooke Harnacke and third place was Shelly Johnson.
The final candy category was Any Other Candy, plate of three. At the
beginning of the day, Greenslate explained that there was a
difference between the definition of this category in the official
rules versus the fair book. Because of this some entrants thought
they needed to bring one piece each of three different candies while
others brought three pieces of the same candy that was different
from any offered in a previous category.
She said in order to be fair, they were accepting plates under
either one of those definitions.
In the Any Other Candy category fourth place went to Rose Harrold,
third to Peggy Sanders, second to Carlene Carter and Patty Huffer
took the first place ribbon.
After all these categories were concluded, judge Silano was then
asked to choose the best of the best in the candy category.
Greenslate explained that there would be a Best of Show in Candy,
Best of Show Snack Foods, and Best of Show in Cakes. Each Best of
Show winner would receive a purple rosette ribbon.
Then there would be one last judging, the Best of Show Overall,
where the tree rosette winners would be put against one another to
choose the very best of the day. That person would receive a $25
gift card from Market on the Hill in Mt. Pulaski.
The Best of Show in candy went to
Peggy Sanders with her Peanut Brittle.
The next division of judging was
snack foods starting with Pretzel Treat.
There were three entries in this
category with Patty Huffer taking first place. Brooke Harnacke took
second and Rebecca Johnson took third.
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The next category was Caramel
Corn and there were three entries. Darlene Crider took first
place, Brook Harnacke took second, and third place went to
Stephanie Johnson.
The Trail Mix category was won by Brooke Harnacke. Ava Sanders
took second, Patty Huffer third, and fourth went to Rebecca
Johnson.
There were eight entries in the No Bake Cereal Treat with the
top four receiving ribbons.
Those ribbons went to Brook Harnacke in first, Karen Sandel in
second, Patty Huffer for third, and Rose Harroll took fourth.
The Best of Show in the Snack Foods went to Darlene Crider with
her Caramel Corn.
With that division concluded, it was time to move on to the
cakes.
The first category was Sweet German Chocolate with two entries.
First place went to Peggy Sanders
and Karen Sandel took second place.
There were also only two entries in
the Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting category.
Jeanne Runyon took second place with Jaimie Wibben getting first.
In the White Butter Cake with White
Frosting Carlene Carter took second place with Rose Harrold taking
first place.
Yellow Butter Cake with Chocolate
Frost had three entries. Third with to Carlene Carter, second to
Neely Petty, and first went to Rose Harrold.
The Red Velvet with traditional
white frosting was won by Jeanne Runyon with Diana Cheatham taking
second and Tiffany Skeen taking third.
Bakers Choice had two entries with second place going to Hannah
Meece and First to Jamie Wibben.
Rose Harrold was the winner for the
third time in the cake competition with her Angel Food Cake no
frosting. Coming in second was Lauren Dahmm and Hannah Meece took
third.
In the Chiffon Cake no frosting
Jeanne Runyon took her second win of the day with Rose Harrold
taking second and Hannah Meece taking third.
That concluded the cake competition, and the judge was tasked with
choosing the best cake of the day.
That honor went to Rose Harrold
with her White Butter Cake with White Frosting. As the Best of Class
winner, Harold was gifted with a beautiful Crystal Pedestal Cake
Plate engraved to say Logan County Fair 2025.
Then it was time for all three divisions of the day to have the top
winners pitted against one another for the Best of Show for the
competition.
Judge Silano required little time
to decide that her favorite taste of the day was Rose Harrold’s
white butter cake with white frosting.
All the cake category winners will be eligible to compete on Sunday
at the Cake Classic. At the end of the event on Friday it was not
yet determined who would bake what, but there is no doubt that
whatever cake is baked it will be deliciously delivered with love
for the Logan County Fair Fundraiser Auction.
[Nila Smith]
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