Monday, August 21, 2017

State Fair Judges Critiques

I've let this poor blog die, but it seems like the best medium to post all of my critiques for 20 entries through the duration of the fair.  So check it out below.  The judge's reactions, and then my reaction to their reaction.

Creation with Cake Mix: Tiramisu Cupcakes- First Place
Judge: Beautiful presentation, delicious flavor, moist, tiramisu flavor throughout. 94%
Me: Texture got my only points deducted.  Wish I knew what was off with the texture, because it doesn't note that in the critique.

Chocolate Cake - First Place
Judge: Nice appearance.  Can taste the coffee.  I like the ganache on top of it. Very moist. Delicious flavor - not overly rich. 100%!
Me: Dang! 100%!!! WOOT!  Best chocolate cake in Iowa.

Decorated cookies - Second Place
I misunderstood and didn't pick this one up... I guess they thought I would want to take the cookies with me so they left them in the display case.  Ew.   They're mailing it to me.  Wah wah.

French Macarons: Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons - 3rd Place
Judge: Very dainty - lightly browned. Nice strawberry jam in the middle.  Very good. 96%
Me: I think they were slightly under done in the middle and over done on the outside.  I'm getting an oven thermometer before I try them again because I have long suspected my oven runs hot.

Have your Cake and Eat it too: Kids Cake - Ice Cream Drip Cake - 3rd Place
Judge: Very original idea. Looks quite yummy and smells good.  A bit coarse, but very moist.  The cake has a wonderful flavor.  90%
Great cake. The design is very cute 96%
Very moist cake. Texture good.  Cute idea. Decorations very nice. Loved eye appeal.  98%
Me: Out of detail, originality, flavor, texture and eye appeal, each judge dinged me for something different.  While I would have loved to have all of the judges give me the reaction the third gave me, it's cool to see that there are different strokes for different folks.  I also noticed that the two that won had colorful cake as well as a fun design, so maybe a note in there that they were looking for something with detail on the inside as well.  Just something that might help me for next year.

Taste of Honey: Honey Challenge - Pomegranate, blueberry jalapeno wings - 3rd Place
Judge: Looks like hell. Taste divine.  Very creative sauce. Wings are a great way to present.  88%
Me: One of my lowest scores.  Sometimes the best food looks like hell.  Glad it won though, because I had faith in my recipe.

Cake Mix Fix Up - Pineapple Upside Down Cake - 3rd Place
Judge: Moist cake - nice pineapple flavor.  A little wet in the middle on top.  Should have caramelized the top a little more.  Edges are nice. 89%
Me: All valid points.  My cashiers, however, say it's delicious.

Now on to the not-so-winners.
Gluten Free Dessert: Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons
Judge: It is a great macaron. Great texture, perfect amount of flavoring. Very nice overall. 95%
Great story, beautiful presentation. Would have liked more of the macaron and less filling.  A little too sweet. 70%
Me: Yall two need to work this out.  Clearly judge #2 doesn't like macarons.  All three winners had chocolate in them.  I'll remember that for next year.

Molasses Cookies
Judge: Cake like texture. Slight floury taste. Uniform shapes. 88%
Me: A better % than I thought I'd get.  I agree that something was off with these.  When I made them for Christmas, they were my favorite cookie ever.  But then I couldn't quite get the bake time right this time.

Sweet Treats: Cookie/Bar Cranberry Orange Cookies
Judge: Love the cranberries, can taste the orange, too.  85%
Me: So basically I gather that you tasted these cookies, and not much else.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (With walnuts)
Judge: Uniform size.  Evenly baked.  Walnuts blended in nicely.  Very chewy. 85%
Me: Seems like a low score for all positive critiques.  However, I think it just missed placing, because I saw two "honorable mentions" in this category, and my cookies were in the top 6.  Next year I might try adding something.  Not sure what, yet.

Jethro's best wing sauce - Same Pomberry Peno wing sauce from before.
Judge: The jam and fruity flavor of pomegranate and berry adds to the sauce.  Blistering the pepper adds a nice flavor to the sauces.  80%
Me: I got that blistering technique from a Food Network show like 2 days before I made this. It gives the jalapenos a really charcoal taste.

No bake without crust: Lemon Tiramisu
Judge: Decorated nicely. Very refreshing dessert. 96%
Very nice tart lemon flavor.  Multiple textures. Lemon filling makes for a very flavorable and pleasant dessert.  85%
Grainy texture. attrative presentation.  Nice lemon flavor.  85%
Nice drizzles on top.  Very light, good lemon flavor.  For competition, I would place this in a smaller dish for appearance.  93%
Me: I can tell you exactly who that third judge was.  She loves things displayed in fine China.

Cinnamon Rolls
Judge: Very tasty. Not overpowering on the frosting. Nice story.  83%
Me: Again with the low score and all positive critiques.  Give me something to work with.

Brownies
Judge: evenly sized and cut brownie.  under baked almost gummy 87%
Me: I don't like chocolate that much, and these were insanely chocolate, so it's hard for me to say they tasted good.  The first time I made them, they were much thinner.  Next time I'll use a larger pan.

Sugar Cookies (Drop, not cut out)
Judge: Nice uniform shapes.  Moist, tender crumb, delicate flavor. 90%
Me: I love these cookies and I stand by them.  That's all I have to say.

Lemon bars: Toasted coconut lemon bars
Judge: Beautiful toasted coconut. A little messy to eat.  I think the coconut is too toasted. It tastes a little burnt.  78%
Me: This was one judge... Saying the coconut was beautifully toasted as well as burnt.  Strange.

Cinnamon Rolls: Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls
Judge: Nice large rolls. Beings the edges were cut, they were dry.  Cardamom over powers cinnamon. Keep working, adjust recipe and bring again.  91%
Me: I'm surprised she said to bring them again.  I think they were average all around.  They were awesome the night I baked them.  Next year I'll bake them the morning I take them.  She also made a comment about hoping next year they will allow the cinnamon rolls to be connected in a pan, because that's a traditional cinnamon roll.  So hopefully that will help me.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Judge: Evenly brown, fairly evenly uniform shape.  Good flavor! 89%
Me: Glad I worked so hard on even shapes and sizes.  They were sticklers on that.

Drop other than named: Fruity Pebble Cookies
Judge: Cookies not baked evenly. Texture is surprisingly moist.  Texture very different among cookies.  No consistency between texture of cookies 82%
Me: Well pick the one you like... No one told you to eat more than one cookie.  :)




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