Best of Oktoberfest

Twenty-eight cakes and pies vied for top honors this year in the annual Seymour Oktoberfest Pie and Cake Baking Contest. Eighteen cakes and 10 pies made up the total entries.

"They were pretty wonderful," said Lora Kirts of Larry E. Nunn & Associates LLC of Seymour, which has been sponsoring the baking contest for about 15 years.

A turtle cheesecake by Mindy Murray earned the first-place award in the cakes category.

Coming out on top in the pie competition was Lavena Hauer's peanut butter pie.

Each of the first-place winners received $100.

Rounding out the top finishers in the cakes category were Alicia Froedge, second place, with her caramel applesauce spice cake with cream cheese icing, and Kelley England, third place, who entered a triple layer carrot cake.

In the pies category, Michelle Nichter took second place with her candy apple streusel pie. Kelly Lawson was third with her strawberry rhubarb pie.
The second-place winners in each category received $50 each, and the third-place winners received $25 each.

Judges were Kathy Mead of the Oktoberfest Committee, Seymour Fire Chief Fred Hines, Anchor House Executive Director Deb Bedwell, Seymour Building Commissioner Jeremy Gray and Seymour Mayor Craig Luedeman.

Of this year's contest, Kirts said all the entries were appreciated.

"We just had a real nice time doing that and we encourage entries for next year," she added.

"Every year, we have a good turnout."

First-place pie

Lavena Hauer

Peanut Butter Pie

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup peanut butter

1 pie shell, baked

¼ cup cornstarch

2/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups milk, scalded

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons butter

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Mix peanut butter and powdered sugar until it looks like cornmeal. Spread half of it in pie shell; set aside. Combine other ingredients and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Spoon the filling over the peanut butter layer in shell. Top with meringue. Sprinkle remaining peanut butter mixture over meringue. Bake at 320 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Second-place pie

Michelle Nichter

Candy Apple Streusel Pie

7 apples peeled, sliced thin

1 tablespoon butter

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon cloves

Melt butter in saucepan. Add apples and cook, covered about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch, spices and sugar and cook 5-10 minutes longer. Allow to cool. Pour into a prepared pie crust. Streusel topping: 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons chilled butter, 1/3 cup chopped pecans. Mix well until crumbly. Spread on top of apples. Top with lattice top crust. Bake 50-55 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven and top with candy. Candy topping: ½ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cream, ¼ cup butter. Melt in saucepan. Spread topping over baked pie and return to oven for 5-10 minutes until bubbly and browned.

Third-place pie

Kelly Lawson

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

2 cups diced rhubarb

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping cup sugar

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 tablespoons flour

In medium bowl, lightly beat egg and salt together. Add sugar and flour. Mix well. Place rhubarb in strainer basket, pour one cup boiling water over rhubarb to blanch. Add blanched rhubarb to sugar mixture, add strawberries and mix well. Pour mixture into prepared crust.

Pie crust:

2 cups flour

¾ cup Crisco

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold water

Blend ingredients with fork or pastry blender. Roll out half of dough and press into pie plate. Pinch edge of crust to form small ridge. Pour pie filling into crust. Dot with butter, cut other half of dough into strips for lattice. Brush dough with milk lightly and cover with foil. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, remove foil and reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.

First-place cake

Mindy Murray

Turtle Cheesecake

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 pint sour cream

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1½ cups chocolate chips

¾ cup mini chocolate chips

¾ cup chopped pecans

Chocolate syrup

Caramel syrup

Beat cream cheese, add sugar. Beat. Add sour cream. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Blend slightly. Melt chocolate chips. Add 2 cups cake mix to chocolate mixture. Alternately pour mixtures into crust, starting and ending with yellow mixture. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees until done. Cool on wire rack. Drizzle with caramel and chocolate syrups. Top with mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Refrigerate.

Graham cracker crust:

¼ cup crushed graham crackers

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Stir together. Press into bottom of springform pan. To coat sides, double recipe. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees, cool.

Second-place cake

Alicia Froedge

Caramel Applesauce Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1¾ cups white sugar

1½ teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ cup butter

½ cup buttermilk

1½ cups applesauce

2 eggs

¾ cup walnuts (optional)

Filling:

Caramel ice cream topping

Icing:

1 cup butter

1 cup shortening

1 pound cream cheese (softened)

1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract

3½ pounds powdered sugar

½ teaspoon salt

Sift flour, white sugar, baking soda, salt, baking powder and spices into a large mixing bowl. Mix in ½ cup butter, buttermilk and applesauce. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Beat in eggs. Fold in ¾ cup nuts. Pour into a greased, floured pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

For cream cheese icing: Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Gradually add powdered sugar and salt. Beat on low until creamy. After cake has completely cooled, fill with caramel topping and top with cream cheese icing.

Third-place cake

Kelley England

Triple Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:

2 cups sugar

1½ cups vegetable oil

4 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)

½ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup raisins

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 3 9-inch cake pans. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins. Pour batter into pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pan, usually 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely.

Frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Place one cake layer on platter, spread with ¾ cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with ¾ cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. Serve cake cold or at room temperature.