Country Fair Cookbook by the editors of the Farm Journal copyright 1975
I picked Country Fair Cookbook as my first cookbook to make a recipe from because the Wisconsin State Fair was canceled this year and I missed out in entering the culinary competitions. It is one of the highlights for me each year. My mother recently said I could have any of her cookbooks since she in no longer able to cook. I saw this one on her bookshelf last month. I have been competing in the WI State Fair since 2010. Every April I get excited for the entry information to be posted online. It provides the dates and categories (classes) for entries. Each of the 4 culinary days features different categories like cakes, pies, dairy or sponsored classes. I spend April, May and June determining the classes to enter and creating a recipe to use. Wherever I am working gets to enjoy my trials and sometimes rejects. Some of my coworkers have provided great feedback on the taste testing. Let me know if you want to help out next year. I try to keep each day to less than 12 entries. 2 of the competition days are prior to the start of the fair and 2 days are during the fair. I usually compete in at least 2 of the 4 days.
The day before the competition I spend cooking, baking, and washing dishes to get the entries ready. I lot of dishes. I usually borrow an extra mixer and measuring cups to minimize the amount of time washing. The dishwasher gets a workout that day too. The entries have to be dropped off in the morning of the competition day and they are judged in the afternoon. I always attend the judging because I have learned many tips and tricks along the way. I will share cooking and baking tips with you as we get into the recipes.
Drum roll please. The first recipe is……………
I have never made a rolled cake before and I thought it was time. With fresh raspberries in season who can resist. I have always been intimidated by a cake roll. But this recipe was straightforward. Some tips are to pull the eggs out of the refrigerator 1 hour before you will make the recipe. You should always use room temperature ingredients when baking. Also, ensure your leavening ingredients are fresh.
The ingredients for the Raspberry Cream roll are:
1 cup sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 egg yolks – see the next post for how to use the egg whites.
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp lemon extract
Confectioners sugar
Raspberry Cream Filling – 1/2 pint heavy cream and 10 oz pkg frozen raspberries.
I used lemon zest from 1 lemon and 1 tsp fresh lemon juice instead of the extract. I will always use fresh if it is available.
I replaced the frozen raspberries with fresh. I should have smashed them more when folding into the whipped cream.
Country Fair Cookbook is a book about baking. There are used copies on Amazon and our library system has one copy.
There are only 4 sections; Breads, Cakes, Cookies/Bars and Pies. The book was full of great recipes and I will keep it as a reference for next year because for each section it provides common problems and probable causes. One tip I learned my first year competing at the fair was to always use a food processor to mash bananas for a banana bread. My loaf had large chunks in it. No ribbon for me in that class. The ingredients need to be evenly dispersed in any quick bread, muffin or cake.
Go ahead and try this recipe. The Raspberry Cream Roll tasted tart and sweet. I sprinkled more powered sugar on each slice before serving.
**Here is why I can’t post a copy of the whole recipe into my blog. Copyright info.