Take the cake

… or the muffin, or the pie at the Union Fair’s Maine Wild Blueberry Festival. This year’s blueberry bakeoff has five categories: Melt in Your Mouth Wild Blueberry Cake, in which each entrant bakes the same recipe; Wild Blueberry Dessert Competition; Wild Blueberry Muffin Baking Competition; Two-Crusted Wild Blueberry Pie Competition; and the Kids Kooking Kontest, which requires children to bake the same recipe for Wild Blueberry Dessert Cake.

To make Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake, separate 2 eggs and beat egg whites until stiff. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to egg whites and set aside. Cream 1/4 cup shortening, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix well. Add egg yolks. Beat until light and creamy. Sift together 11/2 cups sifted flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and add alternately with ? cup milk to the creamed mixture. Fold in egg whites. Fold in 11/2 cups floured Maine wild blueberries. Pour into greased 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle batter with a little sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes or until done.

To enter, bring your baked confection, along with a 4-by-6 index card with your typed recipe on it (no names, please) to Exhibition Hall I between 1 and 4 p.m. on the following dates: Cake, Tuesday, Aug. 21; baked dessert, Wednesday, Aug. 22; muffins, Thursday, Aug. 23; two-crust pie, Friday, Aug. 24; Kids Kooking Kontest, Saturday, Aug. 25. Bakers must be present during the announcement of winners.

To make Wild Blueberry Dessert Cake for the Kids Kooking Kontest, cream together 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons shortening. Add 1 beaten egg and beat mixture well. Add 3/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 13/4 cups sifted flour, and 2 teaspoons baking powder. Mix well. Fold in 11/2 cups floured Maine wild blueberries. Pour into greased and floured 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45-50 minutes until done.

In the adult cooking categories, winners each will receive a trophy, a ribbon, and $60 for first place, $40 for second place and $20 for third place. The Kids Kooking Kontest has two age groups: 6-10 and 11-15. Winners each will receive a trophy, a prize, a ribbon, and $25 for first place, $15 for second place and $10 for third place.

Star-spangled SPAMmers

Robert Bayer’s win in the Bangor State Fair’s SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey Recipe Competition couldn’t have come at a better time. Bayer’s wife passed away 10 days before the contest from a long-term illness and the whole family came together to create Bayer’s entry: S’Corn Chowder. The contest gave the Bayers a distraction and a chance to bond as a family. Fleischmann’s winners Betty McLaughlin took second place for her Microwave SPAM Casserole and DeDe Gamble took third place for her SPAM Stuffing.

Bread winners

“Rising” stars DeDe Gamble of Bangor and her 7-year-old daughter, Callie, took first place (and $150) in the Fleischmann’s Yeast Breadworld.com bread competition at the Bangor State Fair with their Apple Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Second place went to Betty McLaughlin of Corinth for her Fruity Cream Cheese Ring. Milos and Nadja Blagojevic of Orono took third prize for their Traditional Serbian Flat Bread.

Tidbits is hungry for news about local food products and events. Send your Tidbits to: Bangor Daily News, attn: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor ME 04402-1329, or kandresen@bangordailynews.net.