Baking Contest for a Baking Hot Maplewood 4th of July

Maplewood's Annual 4th of July baking contest took place this morning with contestants dropping off their yummy baked goods at Maplewood Town Hall by 9:30 a.m. Once the doors closed, the judging began on the approximately 50 entries.

Needless to say, the judges had a hard time—but we don't feel too badly for them. On the tables were every manner of cookie, pie, cake, brownie and even caramels! There were cakes in red white and blue—both inside and out. There were rice crispy treats shaped as stars, a cake in the form of Uncle Sam's top hat, summer fruit gallettes and a frozen key lime pie.

Very sensibly, the adults judged the adult entries, and the kids judged the kid entries. And everyone took their job very seriously. The entries were judged on taste and presentation. The judges first judged presentation and then, by taking an inconspicuous forkful out of the corner, judged for taste.

The adult judges were: Bronwen Jones, Susan King, Randy and Sandy Faust and Lydia Lacey, Janet Crane, Diane Malloy, Margret Grey, Susan Ramos and Maplewood's own cupcake cowboy Joe Ramaikas.

The kid judges were Grant, Elijah, Bella, Scott, Hank, Shannon, Orly, Lilly, Same, Zoe and Talia.

The results:

1^st Place – Joy Friedman - Top Hat Cake

1^st Place – Judy Wong - Nanni's Crumb Cake

1^st Place – Nancy Guilbos – Bavarian Apple Tart

1^st Place – Ellie & Andria Wren-Hardin - Aunt Becky's Sugar Cookies

1^st Place – Jorie Gatlin – Caramel Toffee Turtles

1^st Place – Kay Lamm – Sugar Cookies

1^st Place – Gretchen Henderson – Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

1^st Place – Grace Mallory, Maddie Faust – Patriot Cake

1^st Place – Adrian Heningburg – Flower Cake

1^st Place – Darla (no last name listed) – Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

1^st Place – Gracie Guber – Vanilla Mouse Tart

1^st Place – Dani & Kate (no last name listed) – Summer Purse

1^st Place – Grace Dickson, Kathryn Hartnett - Cake

2^nd Place – Aiba Garzon – Stars & Stripes Cake

2^nd Place – Anne Stowell – Bourbon Apricot Tart

2^nd Place – Kia Palmer – Summer Peach Galette

2^nd Place – Adrianna Donat – Sweet Chocolate Torte

2^nd Place – Rosie Rios – Melt in Your Mouth Caramels

2^nd Place – Alissa Gardenhire – Lime Cupcakes

2^nd Place – Chloe (no last name listed) – Peanut Butter Cake

2^nd Place – Sonya Cole, Lily Solomon - 4^th of July Balloon Cake

2^nd Place – David Cariner, Nola Mestmica – Watermelon Cake

2^nd Place – Bellamy Leto – Liberty Bells

2^nd Place – Cole & Henry Donat – Lego Cake

2^nd Place – Mackenzie Conlon – Summer Sweetness Cake

3^rd Place – Phoebe Holte-Reiss - 4^th of July Cake

3^rd Place – Michelle Brummer – Whoopie Pie

3^rd Place – Liz Rohan – Frozen Key Lime Pie

3^rd Place – Gracie Umiker – Sparkly Surprise

3^rd Place – Olivia Ferrer – 4^th of July Cake

3^rd Place – Casey Dickson, Molly Brett – Blue Berry Star

3^rd Place – Tabatha Georget, Sophie Helmkamp – Chocolate Marshmallow Pie

Honorable Mention – Chris Cooks – Banana Wheat Germ Bread

Honorable Mention – John Gardenhire – Prune Bread

Honorable Mention – Kathe Conlon – Show and Tell Cake

Honorable Mention – Geoff Lamk – Chocolate Chess Pie

Honorable Mention – Erin Alghandoor – Pineapple Brown Sugar Pie

Honorable Mention – Alison Badin, Lee & Annie Hillman – Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Honorable Mention – Jay Cooks – Carrot Nut Bread

Honorable Mention – Bella Yagid - 4^th of July Cupcakes

Honorable Mention – Charley Meitrich – Chocolate Chip Brownies

Honorable Mention – Baily & Olivia (no last name listed) – Sugar Cookies

Honorable Mention – Kate (no last name listed) – Mississippi Mud Cake

Honorable Mention – Ellie & Cece Clarke – Lemon Pow! Cookies

Honorable Mention – Anna Curran - Cookies

Honorable Mention – Eleanor Engelhard – Toasted Coconut & Chocolate Blondies

Honorable Mention – C. Jay Gardenhire-Cooks – Red, White & Blue Cupcakes

Honorable Mention – Sam Garlin & Matt Schilling – Sweet Chocolate cookies

Honorable Mention – Jordon Fields - Cake