I Took Home 1st Place for Cream Pies at the KCRW Good Food Pie Contest!

Our prize-winning pie!

The much anticipated KCRW Good Food Pie Contest happened yesterday and I can't believe I'm saying this - in fact, it's still shocking to say out loud, but typing is a little easier: My mom and I won 1st place in the Cream/Custard/Chiffon/Mousse category! Ahhhhhhhh! Ok, had to get that scream out of my system. Ahhhhh! Nope, it's not all out.

The lovely cross-section

Our winning pie was a Chocolate Caramelized Bananas and Peanut Butter Mousse Pie with a garnish of Caramelized Peanuts. We are suckers for chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas. Both my mom and I tested the pie recipe separately, varying it slightly to see what worked best. Friday night when we made the official pie we'd be entering into the contest (together under one roof because my mom flew down from the Bay Area!!!), we changed the chocolate cookie crust one more time. Third time's the charm! And practice makes perfect!

My sister, me, and my mom with our pie!

With close to 150 pies entered and all of them looking interesting or gorgeous, the competition was fierce! We were honored to be among such a talented mix of professionals and amateurs. It was fun to chat with the entrants while we waited for judging to begin. Plus being surrounded by such an esteemed judging panel, I was swooning and dying from celebrity chef and food figure sightings. It's one thing to be a fan of a famous chef or food writer, it's another to have them be a fan of your pie! The tables have turned, if just for one day, and I'm bursting on the inside!

The ribbons table

Watching chef Eric Greenspan of The Foundry on Melrose taste my pie and give the "oooooh-yummy-I-like-this" look of the century was incredibly exciting. Mark Peel, chef and founder of Campanile and La Brea Bakery, Stefan Richter, Top Chef Season 5 contestant and chef of Stefan's at LA Farm, and Russ Parsons, the LA Times food editor, offered me similar looks. I wish I could bottle up the thrill of seeing that. Greenspan and others even returned to my pie for additional tastes later in the judging process. So glad my sister got a short video of Greenspan mid-taste...

We are plating the pie for the judges

To go back a few steps and explain the day from the beginning, first I registered my pie entry when I arrived and was then taken to the tables where the pies would be displayed. This event took place in the giant Westfield shopping mall in Topanga, CA. The general public looked on from the other side of the ropes as I cut my pie into 8 pieces. 2 of those 8 would be plated for judges to sample. I took special care to make clean slices. I didn't know the judging rubric but I could have guessed presentation would be part of it. The slices came out great and showed off a fun multilayer cross-section. I was so relieved! Now, assuming the pie doesn't melt or deflate as it sits there unrefrigerated (cream pies aren't especially forgiving at room temperature for too long), my work is done and it's up to the Pie Gods to make miracles happen.

The Foundry chef-owner Eric Greenspan tastes our pie!

Russ Parsons, the LA Times food editor, tastes our pie!

Mark Peel, chef-owner of Campanile and La Brea Bakery founder, tastes our pie!

It took quite awhile for everyone who brought a pie to register and slice up their pie. Eventually, all the pies were out on display and the judges entered the area to perform their noble duty. I moved to the other side of the ropes blocking off the pie area, joining the general public, and watched judge after judge approach my pie to taste it. After a very long judging period and much deliberation and back-and-forth among the judges, the winners were determined.

Holding up my ribbon, biggest grin ever, and with
event host/food genius Evan Kleiman

Evan Kleiman, the incredible chef-owner at Angeli Caffe, star of Good Food on KCRW, and host of this pie contest, took to the mic and announced 3rd, then 2nd, then 1st place in each of the four categories: Fruit and Nut; Cream, Custard, Chiffon, Mousse; Savory; Interpretive (Defies Categorization); and then Best in Show. When she called Pie #22, our pie, I just about died. I put my hands over my face, Home Alone style, then pulled my mom's arm behind me, and we rushed up to receive our award ribbon and prizes. The LA Daily News snapped a pretty awesome photo of us as we heard our pie announced. As for prizes, we got a tote bag of cookbooks, wine, and a gift certificate to Westfield mall. Plus bragging rights! When all winners had been announced, the public was invited to taste the remaining pie slices. It was a mad dash to the tables, and so much fun!

2nd place in Creams Dan Hong (for his delicious banana cream pie)
stops for a photo with my mom and me

I can now check off Mother-Daughter Bake-off Experience from the list - though I wouldn't be opposed to more of those in the future. And how special to have my sister there cheering from the sidelines. We won an NPR bake-off? We love NPR!!!!! It was a really great day.

Oh, and at least for now, I'm keeping the winning recipe a secret. Sometimes I like a good mystery. :-)

Judge Eric Greenspan and me

Judge Mark Peel and me

With my friend Lindsay William-Ross, the editor of LAist

With Chrystal Baker, a fellow first place winner
but for the Savory category, and fellow food blogger!

With Max Lesser, fellow pie entrant and chef/owner
of the amazing Morning Glory Confections

A very appropriate pie contest entrant outfit -
matching aprons for mommy and baby

Some of the Pie Entries
















Updated! Press and Blog Coverage

• Los Angeles Times: "Enough pie to reach the sky in KCRW contest"
• LA Daily News: "KCRW Radio Pie Contest" photo gallery
• LA Daily News: "Let Them Bake Pie" article
• LAist: "Slice of Small Town America: KCRW Pie Contest a Treat for All"
• KCRW: "Announcing... the Pie Contest Winners!"
• KCRW: "Barbara Treves' Winning Apple Pie Recipe"
• KCRW: "Pie Contest Photos"
  
• Happy Go Marni: "I Took Home 1st Place for Cream Pies at the KCRW Good Food Pie Contest!"
• The Duo Dishes: "A Big 'Ol Win"
  
• Adventures By Dan: "First Entry/Pie Bake-Off"
• Within My Means: "KCRW's 1st Annual Good Food Pie Bake-Off"
• Film Chatter: "Unemployment Tuesday: Still there"
  
• Jeffreezy: "Look"

Today I'm Entering My First Bake-Off: The KCRW Good Food Pie Contest

Today, for the first time ever, I am entering a pie in a bake-off. I've always wanted to enter food contests...baking ones, not eating ones (too many hot dogs or marshmallows stuffed in my mouth and I think I'd puke). But usually there is some lousy reason it doesn't work out - I find out too last minute or it's too expensive or it requires traveling or something. Actually, I did once try entering a recipe into the Pillsbury Bake-Off, but that didn't go very far, and there was no event where all applicants prepared their recipe and brought it to a judging panel to taste. That was only for the 100 finalists.

When I read that chef Evan Kleiman of Good Food on KCRW (Los Angeles's NPR radio station) was hosting a pie contest, I got really excited. I'm not even a regular pie baker, though I'm also not new to pies. The contest rules said I could enter up to 4 pies, one for each of the 4 categories: fruit and nut; cream, custard, chiffon and mousse; savory; and interpretive pie, one that "defies categorization." I didn't want to overdo my first ever bake-off experience; one pie was plenty. I called up my mom, told her about this contest that was happening on a weekend when she happened to be visiting my sister and me in LA, and we spent a couple nights devising a delicious pie recipe to co-enter! We chose the mousse category.

I won't divulge the recipe until after the contest is over (and only if the pie is not a complete failure or embarrassment to the pie-eating world), but I will say three ingredients that are featured in our pie: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Bananas. My mom and I each made the pie in our respective kitchens and then reconvened by phone to discuss any modifications we felt were necessary. Last night, with my mom in town, together under one roof, in my Los Angeles kitchen, we prepared the official pie entry. Mother-daughter activities are the best!

A berry pie I made a few years ago. Not the recipe I'm entering in this contest!

I hear there are 150 pies entered. Holy moly that is a lot of pie for the judging panel to taste! I just hope all 150 pies aren't variations on the one my mom and I submitted, you know, with the same three featured flavors. That would be a big bummer. I'm going to think positively and remain calm!

Speaking of judges, take a look at this incredible list of judges!

• Mark Peel - Executive Chef & Owner, Campanile
• Russ Parsons - Food Editor for the LA Times
• Stefan Richter - Chef & Owner, Stefan's at LA Farm; Former Contestant on Bravo's Top Chef (Season 5)
• Eric Greenspan - Chef & Owner of The Foundry on Melrose
• Elizabeth Belkind - Executive Pastry Chef/Owner of Cake Monkey
• Amy Scattergood - Food writer, LA Weekly
• Eddie Lin - of the blog DeepEndDining.com and the book Extreme Cuisine
• Amelia Saltsman - author of The Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook
• Pim Techamuanvivit - Food Blogger and author of The Foodie Handbook
• Clifford Wright - Noted Chef and Cookbook Author, Co-Founder of the Venice Cooking School
  

And there you have it! I will keep you posted on my experience. I'm so excited just to take part in it! With my mom by my side co-entering, and my sister there for moral support (and to taste people's yummy pies), it's a Happy Go Marni family affair.

Wish me luck!

State Fair Marbled Banana Bars

This recipe won top honors at the State Fair of West Virginia in Lewisburg. That's good enough for me as an indicator of deliciousness. I'm picturing a judging panel line-up of old ladies with beehive hairdos and men with bow ties and thick dark-rimmed glasses. I'm sure that's not how it is today, but I prefer that image.


I've made a lot of banana desserts, but this might be the first time I've marbled banana with chocolate. Come to think of it now, it's such a natural thing to do because banana is light in color and works perfectly to contrast the dark color of chocolate. More recipes should suggest this!! The resulting bar not only looks good, but it's a yummy, moist cake, pretty light and airy, and (watch out), could take eating almost the entire tray before you got full. I don't know this from experience, I swear. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Wink Wink.


Marbled Banana Bars
Recipe from Blue Ribbon USA: Prizewinning Recipes From State and County Fairs by Georgia Orcutt and John Margolies.

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping the bowl several times, until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bananas, egg, and vanilla and continue beating and scraping the bowl until well mixed, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk to blend. Add to the banana mixture and beat on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until the batter is well mixed.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the batter and drop it by spoonfuls into the prepared pan, leaving a few spaces. Add the cocoa to the remaining batter in the bowl and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until well mixed. Drop the chocolate batter by spoonfuls into the pan over and around the banana batter. Using a knife, swirl the chocolate batter through the banana batter to make a marbleized pattern. (Do not overswirl.) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Cut into bars.

Makes about 36 bars.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Prepare the batter...

Take 1 1/2 cups of the batter out of the bowl...

Drop spoonfuls of that 1 1/2 cups of batter into the baking pan...

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add cocoa powder...
This becomes the chocolate (and dark colored) batter, perfect for marbling...

Drop the chocolate batter by spoonfuls around the yellow batter...

Marbleize the two colors by dragging a knife back and forth across the pan until you have your desired design...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes...

Voila!

Pumpkin Cheesecake, or The Cheesecake That Almost Burned Down My Home

This Paula Deen pumpkin cheesecake is so good. It's creamy and dense and pumpkiny and has a delicious graham cracker crust and is basically everything I'm looking for in an excellent dessert. It's also the recipe that almost burned down my kitchen, and perhaps my entire place. Now that's no fault of Paula Deen's. I was a fool!

When I started this baking project, I was really exhausted. That's mistake number 1. But the specific problem that led to such a close call was that I didn't put the springform pan on a baking sheet when it came time to bake the cheesecake. I put the pan directly onto the oven shelf and set the timer. Mere minutes after it was in the oven, me sitting happily and unaware in the living room trying to catch up on my DVR, I suddenly looked up and saw smoke everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE.

What had happened??? I panicked and ran to the kitchen, turned on the oven light, but did not want to open the oven door so I wouldn't release any heat; the cheesecake's structure was still setting. (Looking back, I can't believe I put my cheesecake before the welfare of my home and myself! Ha!) But when I didn't see anything unusual through the glass window of the oven door, I decided I would have to open it up. Sure enough, liquid from the cheesecake was dripping through the cracks in the springform pan and onto the bottom of the oven, creating smoke that the oven's tiny ventilation could not handle. My kitchen was a giant cloud. The smoke alarm went off and in my exhaustion, I thought, OH NO, that's the fire alarm! The firemen are coming! This is embarrassing! And my cheesecake is ruined!


I ran next door to get my neighbor and he helped me turn off the smoke alarm, we opened all the windows, put fans at the windows facing outward to pull the smoke out, and my neighbor bravely stuck his hand in my oven and cleaned the bottom of it with a rag so it would stop producing smoke.

Everything is fine now. The firemen didn't come. My place is not a pile of ashes. I'm safe. The cheesecake was not compromised by having the oven door open for so long to clean the bottom. And I learned a very big lesson about putting springform pans on baking sheets.

This is a cheesecake I'll never forget. But I swear, its incredible, rich taste is memorable, too!


Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe by Paula Deen on the Fall Harvest episode of the TV show "Paula's Home Cooking"

Crust
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Step-by-Step in Pictures

To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon...

Press together to form a crust...

Press the mixture into the bottom of the springform pan (I also pressed the mixture about 1 inch up the sides of the pan...

Your crust is ready to go!

Beat the cream cheese until smooth...

Add pumpkin, eggs, sour cream...

Then add sugar and spices...

Then add flour and vanilla...

Pour the batter over the crust in the pan...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour...

Let cool in the pan, then unlock and release the springform pan sides...

Chill before serving. Yum!