Results! Third Annual Amateur Pie Competition
THE CALIFORNIA RAISIN VISITS THE WINDY CITY
Pastry Chicago's Pie Competition Brought Pastry and Raisin Enthusiasts Together
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Chicago, Illinois (September 24, 2010) – What could be a better way to celebrate the coming fall season than by baking pies? Creating original recipes and competing in the Amateur Fruit and Raisin Pie Competition with Pastry Chicago! September 18th saw 20 pie enthusiasts compete in the third annual contest at Whole Foods, South Loop where competitors showcased their best fruit and raisin pies! The California Raisins Marketing Board sponsored the event, and the California Raisin Mascot was there to root on the contestants.
While judges sampled each entrant's pie, Chef Della Gossett of The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago demonstrated one of her own favorite fall pie recipes: Pear and Mincemeat. She showed spectators how to make a perfect pie crust using Plugrá European-Style butter and King Arthur Flour. Her mincemeat and pear fillings included California Raisins, other dried fruits like cranberries and currants, plus apples, pears, spices, orange and lemon zest, brandy, and pear cider. The filling was topped with a brown sugar streusel. Following Chef Della's demonstration, Andrea Spring, winner of the 16th Annual American Pie Council competition also demonstrated sharing her winning recipe: Chocolate Raisin Walnut Pie.
Pastry chefs from around the area joined Pastry Chicago to judge competitors' pies once again including Joshua Baudin of Sweet Whimsy Pastry in Long Grove; Nicole Bujewski of Le Flour Bake Shop in Chicago; Sophia Evanoff of Chocolate Gourmet in Chicago; Gloria Hafer, After School Matters Chef Instructor; Shirley Miceli of Whole Foods Market, South Loop; and Laura Vaughn of Washburne Culinary Institute.
"We saw a lot of variety among the recipes in this year's pie competition," said Chef Laura Vaughn, a pastry instructor at Washburne Culinary Institute in Chicago. "The competitors were very creative with the different ways they incorporated raisins with fruit – it was a real testament to how versatile an ingredient raisins are. Their crusts were also imaginative: we had a coconut pâte sucrée, a cheddar crust, and a walnut crust."
Five contestants were awarded prizes (contributed by KitchenAid) and recognition based on their pies' taste, texture, and decoration. First place went to Carla Cubert and her Rhubarb and Golden Raisin Pie; Sandy Bierlein won second place with her Creamy Raisin and Apple Pie; third place went to Renee Ortega for her Apple Spice Pie; Feridoun Moghaddam and his Apple Nectarine Raisin Pie won fourth place; fifth place went to Jade McGill for her White Chocolate Rum Raisin Banana Cream Pie with Coconut Cookie Crust; and recognized with an "honorable mention" was Meghan McNicholas and her Apple and Raisin Pie with Cheddar Crust.
The next Pastry Chicago event and demonstration by Chef Instructors from The French Pastry School will include the Fourth Annual Amateur Haunted Cupcake Competition on October 23rd at the Westfield Old Orchard Mall. For more information on this and future events with Pastry Chicago, see www.pastrychicago.org.
Download the press release in PDF format here.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Whole Foods Market - South Loop
1101 South Canal Street #107, Chicago, IL
Please join us and RSVP at 312.726.2419 ext.208 or info@pastrychicago.org
Rules and Regulations:
- Registration forms must be submitted by September 10, 2010 by the end of the day. Only the first 25 entries will be accepted for the competition.
- Contestants may begin to arrive at 12:30 pm. All entries must be submitted by 1:00 pm.
- Contestants must submit a total of two identical pies: one 9" pie for judging and one 9" pie for display.
- All pies and recipes are submitted on the day of the competition. Pies will be displayed for you on white plates and presented to the judges for tasting. No additional display items may accompany your pies.
- Pie recipes must be submitted with the pies for tasting (if no recipe is submitted your pies will not be judged).
- By entering your pie, you agree to have your recipe published on our website.
- Pies are served cold. No baking is done on the premises.
- All contestants must use the following ingredients, but are not limited to only these ingredients: California Raisins, Nielsen Massey Vanilla, Plugrá European-Style Butter, King Arthur Flour and a fruit of your choosing (all of these items can be found at your local Whole Foods store).
- Each entry must be the sole work of the entrant.
- All pies and decoration must be edible.
- Pastry Chicago and Whole foods are not responsible for any items left behind at the end of this event.
- Registration Form
For information on becoming a participant of the competition, or if you have any questions please contact Lindsay Koriath at info@pastrychicago.org, 312.726.2419 ext.208.
Please note that this competition is for amateurs only. This excludes professionals working in the pastry industry as well as graduates of pastry or culinary programs.
