When I decided to entering the Minnesota State Fair Baked Products Competition, I naturally did as much Google research as I could to learn what to expect. Surprisingly, there is not much information on it on the internet. There’s the official fair pages, and entry instructions and requirements… but I had a lot more questions beyond that. How do I drop off my entries? What should I expect when I get there? What sorts of flavors should I be doing? How many things can I enter? What are other people entering? Who is judging these events? So when I decided to enter, I decided the first year was going to be a learning year to figure out what it’s all about, and I also endeavored to document as much of the process as possible, for anyone else who is out there Googling for information.
The problem is, documenting it meant documenting it, so I’ve been trying to pare down all the content and information I accumulated during the two days of baking and drop off. So it has taken a while to post, and I still am going to add more once I receive any judging feedback. But for now, let’s walk through the process!
Registration
Registration was easy! This year, the registration timeframe ran from May 5th to July 29th, and you just need to make an account and then register for the categories you’re entering. They encourage you having names/descriptions of each bake, and I definitely concur. When you arrive to drop off our bakes, they have printed cards with your exhibitor number, the category code number, and then the name of your bake. So it’s much more straightforward if you have the named bakes – for yourself, and likely for the judges!
One key thing for registration is to read the “Baked Product Premium Books Section” PDF carefully. It’s linked on the Baked Products page of the Fair website, and it will tell you what each category needs. Pay attention to the size requirements, and whether you need a printed recipe. Most categories don’t, but the Gluten Free and the Blue Ribbon categories did, as well as a few others. If you read it carefully beforehand and make sure you fulfill all the requirements, you can be like me and have the people at the drop off say “You seem like you’ve done this before.” (The highest complement to an over-preparer like myself.)
I did find the category list overwhelming – some categories seemed too broad, and others too narrow. I wasn’t sure if some ideas I had would fit in certain categories, or what the differences were between all the categories. But, I found that the email they have listed (competition@mnstatefair.org.) is responsive and helpful. I wanted to enter some orange brownies that just require adding some orange zest to the sugar – and I didn’t know if that would count as “Chocolate brownies, plain, no frosting” or, “Chocolate brownies with nuts, chips and/or frosting.” The email I received in response to my question admitted that I “stumped them,” but they suggested not entering them to the plain chocolate category. So, when in doubt, email!
Baking
I’m sure there’s people pulling all-nighters the night before drop off to make sure their bakes are as fresh as can be, but I did not do that. Drop off is on the Saturday morning before the Fair starts. I spent Thursday evening preparing doughs for my cookies and scones to be refrigerated or frozen before baking on Friday. I got a bake done Friday before work, and then spent Friday during the day putting those in the oven, and then the evening baking cakes and finishing all the bars. I did end up staying up until midnight, but I was still able to get 8 hours of seep. Next year, I may take the day off work just to be able to focus on it all day, and not stay up so late.
If freshness is a concern, I read that judging for all categories is usually finished by midday on the Monday after drop off. Which must mean that a lot of it is taking place on Sunday. So there’s only so much difference the judges will perceive between a cake baked at 6pm on Friday vs 3am on Saturday (at least, in my opinion). But there may be a difference between cookies baked on Thursday vs. Friday.
The longstanding Supreme Baker of the Fair suggests getting fresh leavening agents, as that’s a common piece of feedback. So, be prepared and get your ingredients!
I filmed myself talking while I baked, and then got timelapses of my time in the kitchen that added up to 52 total minutes of footage. Oops! I was able to edit that down to 20 minutes, but I don’t know if anyone wants to watch 20 minutes of me baking outside of my family. But I edited it, and I’m not letting that go to waste! So you can either watch the 20 minute version with commentary, or the 6 and a half minute speed run!
Drop-Off
This was the most mysterious part of the process to me. There was just not much online, and none of the FAQs covered it as in-depth as I wanted them to. So I’ve try to recap it as best I can!
The drop off window was from 9:30am-1pm on the Saturday before the Fair. The timeline for drop off of baked goods is, unsurprisingly, more strict than the other Creative Activities categories, because of the judging timeline they have to stick to.
I had boxed up and labelled all of my bakes, and then grouped what I could into spare boxes and shoeboxes to transport them in the car.
I enlisted my brother to help, and we arrived at 10:30am. There was a huge line out the door of the building, that then ended up wrapping through the building, so we were in line for probably 45 minutes.
It was clear this was where I was most unprepared – we had left my three cakes in the car thinking that we’d be able to do a second trip, but I was not looking forward to spending another hour in line after the first round. So my brother went back and got the cakes while we were still in line, and we just set them on the floor amidst the snaking line, while we balanced carrying all the other baked goods.
All this to say: I was jealous of the people who had thought to bring wagons for all their bakes!
Additionally, having adequate protection in the event of rain is important! It had thankfully stopped drizzling by the time we were in line, but all I had was a trash bag draped over the top of a box of my bakes. So, next year: a wagon or cart, and an umbrella.
At the front of the line, they divide you up by last name and you get a manilla envelope that has all your entry information!
Then, you go to the next available check-in station (there were probably 15-20 going), and they ask for your bakes one by one, they put the labels on them with your name hidden, and check it off the list. They make sure you have recipes if you need them, with all your information required.
Behind the check in desk, people are ferrying the entries to the appropriate tables in the back area, sorted by category. Then, you do an electronic sign-off on your bakes, you get a paper copy, and you’re done!
It was good my brother got the cakes and we only did one trip, because I don’t think you could have gone through the line a second time, given the system they had in place for check-in. More reason to have the wagon next year for an easy one trip!
My brother was filming all this, so it’s included in the video below:
Judging and Feedback
The exciting news: I got a third place ribbon for one of my cakes! It was a Gluten Free Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting, entered in the “Gluten Free cake, any flavor” category.
I found out I got third place only when I checked the results PDF that they post on the first day of the Fair. So, I have to assume that’s how everyone finds out the results. I haven’t received any emails from the Fair beyond my registration confirmation, which is a little surprising. Even just an email with the results PDF to everyone who entered might be expected.
I’m updating this on October 7th to say that I received my ribbon and scorecards in the mail on October 6th. It was exciting to finally see the ribbon, and to read the feedback. 5 out of my 13 entries weren’t in the top 25, so they didn’t get scorecards. The other 8 all had scorecards. The feedback was helpful!
My third place bake wasn’t the one that scored highest (it got a 90), which means that some categories clearly have much more competition! The feedback told me not to include any edge pieces in my bars or brownies (rookie mistakes), made comments on texture and consistency, and mentioned one bake being too salty. I’ll definitely be keeping the scorecards to review before next year.
There’s a bit more internet content about the judging aspect of it, and it sounds like there’s 1 judge and a clerk judging each category. They get all the judging done by midday Monday, so people’s bakes are generally fresh. It sounds like for at least some categories, they do a judgement based on looks and exterior quality checks before doing a taste test on only about half or 25 of the entries. But some categories, they do try them all, if they’re unable to make those judgement calls based on looks.
There is some mystery behind the judging though – what if you just pick a flavor they don’t like? What if they’re truly just looking for a basic mastery of the category?
Another thing I’m unsure about is how they decide on what gets displayed. I was lucky enough to have 11 out of my 13 bakes displayed – but I have no idea how they get chosen! I’m sure some categories have everything displayed, and then others they have to make some cuts. But, here’s all the displays!
Conclusion
Hopefully this has been a thorough breakdown of the whole process for entering the State Fair Baked Products Competition anyone interested! It’s been taking up a lot of brain space for me since about mid May, so it’s been fun to finally get to see it through and experience it all. I look forward to doing it again next year, with a bit more knowledge under my belt!
But in the meantime… now I suppose I can spend some time thinking about things other than State Fair baking!