$2,000 Cherry Danish

Yesterday was a big day in the Food Department at the Iowa State Fair for me.  Opening day is always a high dollar contest day there.  I entered the Tone’s Spices Recipe Competition “Tone’s: My Favorite Recipe I Love to Bake”, with a Cherry Red Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish. I will be the first to admit, this entry wasn’t even going to be on my ‘list’ because the night before I didn’t think I had time to pull it off and frankly, if I was going to make these little gems, I would be the one to eat them! I love to bake any type of pastry, because (besides wedding cake) it is my favorite sweet to eat.  These sweets happened to earn $2,000 and a little blue ribbon, I love them even more now.

Guilty Admission: I made 6 large Danish to take and enter in this contest.  I had a nice platter to present them on and somehow only 5 fit creatively on the plate.  I completely inhaled the other one. In-HAY-uhled.  I smacked it down so quickly and with such vigor, I had glaze on my cheeks.

I also entered the “Beeler’s Bacon Dessert” competition and won with a Bacon Caramel Pear Mousse Cake, $1,000 and a little blue ribbon. I was so sad I had to miss that judging, they had some pretty special chefs in from the SE part of the US. Thank you Beeler Family, if I didn’t have pigs to tend to I would’ve been there!  Last year I won with a Bacon Chocolate Mousse Cake.  This year’s dessert was prettier.  Let me tell you something, I haven’t purchased much bacon in the last few months because we’ve been curing and smoking our own pork belly.  I purchased the bacon for the contest and seriously had to put a note on it so it wouldn’t all be eaten after I had cooked it.  Great flavor, texture and color.  Overall, just dang nice bacon and I’ll be snagging some again when we’re in between butcher hogs.

We celebrated the wins and my ‘retirement’ from the Food Department (yes I’m done entering foods, long story and will post about that soon) yesterday with Bauder’s Pharmacy Ice Cream.  I had a fresh peach shake and my daughter had a 1 scoop chocolate cone.  YUM.

Today I’m taking one of my best friends, Kayla, to the Fair.  She’s a Floridian now (via Chicago) and she’s ready to hit the Fair with me, my cousin and the kids.  We have a huge to-do list!

Talking my daughter out of showing boars at the Fair has been really fun… not! (Too dangerous, darling.) Big Foot just loves her though.  No boar can be trusted in that environment though.  She’ll be running the water sprayer!

For more information on spices and great recipes visit the Tone’s Spices website.

To locate Beeler’s Pure Pork and Beeler’s Uncured Bacon visit their website here.

All comments and opinions on this page are my own.  This is not a sponsored post.

*will post recipe for Danish ASAP!