Kentucky State Fair: Only 100-percent homemade pies welcome
Kentucky State Fair: Last year, a blue ribbon was awarded for a buttermilk pie that wasn't 100 percent homemade. This year, officials are making sure that won't happen again.
A classic lattice apple pie in Concord, N.H. in 2011. The key to this recipe is to slightly cook the apples before spooning them into the unbaked crust. This prevents them from deflating during cooking.
(AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
Louisville, Ky.
A new sign in the culinary hall of the Kentucky State Fair warns people entering cakes, pies and other homemade goods that they must be just that — homemade.
Last year, a blue ribbon awarded for a buttermilk pie was stripped after fair officials learned the maker used a store-bought Pillsbury pie crust. The woman who made the pie said her own crust doesn't turn out right and she wasn't aware of the rule.
Now, the Courier-Journal reports that the new sign at the Louisville fairgrounds reads:
ATTENTION, By entering an item in the culinary department of the Kentucky State Fair, you are acknowledging and certifying that you have used no commercially produced products such as frozen pie shells, boxed cake mixes, canned frostings or any like products.”
The Courier-Journal reports that among the 4,300 registered entries, 293 bakers will bring pies, 250 home cooks registered to enter a favorite pickle or relish and another 105 are competing for “Favorite Cookie,” Culinary Superintendent Stephen Lee said. For “Favorite Cake,” the most popular contest resulting in a printed recipe in the Courier-Journal, 54 home cooks registered by the July 1 deadline, he added.
Those numbers will grow, Mr. Lee added, “because many people bring two or three pies or items apiece.”
Looking for the "perfect pie crust"? Check out this recipe.
The Kentucky State Fair is next week.