2011 Manitou Springs Pie Baking Contest

Yes, I did it... I entered my second ever pie-baking contest yesterday! The first was when I was 13 or 14 or so and I entered an Apple Pie in the Los Angeles County Fair. It was tied with another pie for first place and so to break the tie, the judges gave the award to the other pie because it had a top crust and that is more difficult. But the judge asked for my recipe. (16 years later, my dad still likes to brag about that!)

This year I entered a Vermont Maple Peach Pie in the 2011 Manitou Good Ole Fashion Ice Cream Social and Pie Baking Contest. How is that for a long title? I posted this recipe last year but made a few changes and learned a good lesson while baking yesterday:

1. I used a Pate Brisee crust recipe, in an attempt to get the sliced piece to look pretty. It turned out great!
2. I used 1/4 cup Quick Cooking Tapioca in place of cornstarch and the filling thickened up BEEE-AUTIFULLY. I highly recommend this if your fruit pies tend to turn out runny.
3. I brushed the top of the pie with butter and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. This was the wrong thing to do. Too much butter! (I know... You were wondering if such a thing is possible. It is!) The butter made the top surface look funny and it pooled a little in the midding and worst of all, it started to drip in my oven and then burn and smoke. Ugh.... I spent an hour getting heat-blasted in the face while swapping out foil every 10 minutes or so to keep the smoke alarms from going off. That was the least fun part of my day yesterday! So if you make this crust recipe brush the top with a little milk or some egg and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar.


I did not win the contest but I had a great time! There were some beautiful pies and some lovely people. I was told by a contest veteran that the "pretty" pies typically win over the "tasty" ones. I'm already scheming up how to make a prettier pie next year!

My good friends Tarah and Chris came to cheer me! (Remember THIS?? Yes, one and the same!) Chris is a professional photographer and she snapped some shots of the fun and put them on her blog. You can take a peak HERE. And just to say it, her photos are amazing! If you know anyone in need of a wedding or other special event photographer, send them her way!

Happy Tuesday :)