Posted by Winston Salem Journal, NC on October 16, 2008 at 08:58:38:
Girl, 7, takes top honor in King Lions' cake contest
Michael Hastings, the Journal's Food editor
When the Dixie Classic Fair opens, it keeps me pretty busy. Sometimes I miss other food events.
One that I am sorry I missed, especially this year, is the King Lions Club Cake Bake-Off, held Oct. 3 in conjunction with Kingfest.
That's because Lauren Mosley, 7, beat out 41 other competitors to win Best of Show. The contest raised $444 for the Stokes Volunteer Center, which helps find volunteers for local nonprofit agencies.
Lauren won with a hummingbird cake -- a three-layer cake with pecans, pineapples and bananas. "My mom said it was a good idea to do, because it's different," she said.
Lauren, a second-grader at Mount Olive Elementary School, had never entered a cooking contest. She had never even baked a cake. She said that her culinary experience, up until the contest, consisted of ramen noodles and cookies.
A goal in sight
Lauren learned about the contest in a Kingfest flier sent home from school. "I wanted the money," she said.
Lauren got $50 for her Best of Show win, plus a trophy of an angel wearing an apron that has joined her collection of soccer and gymnastics trophies.
Lauren's parents, Tracy and Ricky, and her twin brother, Tyler, were on hand to see her get the bake-off trophy. "There were some ladies who didn't look too pleased when a 7-year-old walked up to get the grand prize," Tracy Mosley said. "Of course, others thought it was just wonderful.
"Her dad had tears in his eyes, he was so proud, and her brother couldn't care less."
Youngest entrant to date
Susan Maxey, the director of the Stokes Volunteer Center, said that a young child has never entered the contest in its four years, though some teenagers from West Stokes High School entered the last two years.
Tracy Mosley said she was skeptical at first when Lauren said she wanted to make a cake for the contest.
"I'm not a big cake person. My cakes always come out leaning sideways," she said. "But the more I thought about it, I knew my mom (Lauren's grandmother, Deb Dougherty) knew how to bake and could show her the way."
Lauren got some help from Dougherty in getting the cake in and out of the oven and with applying the icing, but she did all the rest herself.
Maxey said that the judging was done blind. "Nobody ever knows who bakes what. Nobody had a clue that a child baked this cake."
Lauren baked the cake just once and had no idea how it tasted. Tracy Mosley said she thought that Lauren had a decent chance of winning something because the cake looked so good. "But I was shocked when they called her name for Best of Show."
Lauren seems to be taking the victory in stride. She's saving her $50 to buy more games for her Nintendo DS hand-held game system.
And she said she is on the lookout for another baking contest to enter.
"I want to make a chocolate cake."
Hummingbird Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1¨ö cups oil
1¨ö teaspoons vanilla extract
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups mashed bananas (about 5 large)
Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¨ö stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 box (16 ounces) 4X powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chopped pecans
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three, 9-inch round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir by hand until combined.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine eggs, oil, vanilla, drained pineapple, pecans and mashed bananas. Combine wet and dry mixtures, stirring by hand until moist. Do not beat the batter.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the 3 pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Cool the cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Then put on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. When the cake is almost cool, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat well. Add vanilla.
7. Once the cake is cool, assemble and frost. Sprinkle top of take with chopped pecans.
¡á Michael Hastings, the Journal's Food editor, can be contacted by phone at 727-7394, e-mail at mhastings@wsjournal.com, or mail at c/o Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. His most recent columns can be read on our Web site at www.journalnow.com.
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