The suspense was as thick as the ganache at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship, an annual baking contest held Aug. 24 at the Maryland State Fair.
In the demonstration kitchen in the 4-H/FFA Home Arts Building, the tables were laden with carefully decorated confections. The tempting array included a chocolate Pavlova with banana topping, a chocolate sorbet, and chocolate raspberry puffs.
But after judges Libby Fox and Doris Rye methodically sampled all 14 entries — some of them twice, after cleansing their palates with saltine crackers and water — Katy Nolte of New Windsor took first prize for her Vegan Chocolate Cake.
“The judges said it was really original,” said Nolte, 21. Although Nolte is not a vegan, she said she had the idea for a dairy-free dessert because her parents have a friend who is vegan.
This was not the first time Nolte has accepted a blue ribbon at the state fair. An accomplished baker, she won the fair’s Pillsbury pie-baking competition when she was 14. She was in 4-H as a child and has competed in many local baking contests.
“It’s relaxing and fun,” said Nolte, whose kitchen labors produce countless pies, cookies and loaves of zucchini bread. “It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding.”
Along with the blue ribbon, Nolte received $150, a Ghirardelli apron and a Ghirardelli gift basket.
Nolte, an agricultural science teacher at Liberty High School in Eldersburg, grew up on a 21-acre farm, where she currently lives with her parents. But she soon will trade that bucolic setting for a Westminster townhouse, after her October wedding to an engineer.
Second prize in the contest went to Kim Wroten for her Chocolate Orange Pecan Wedding Balls. Wroten also won first prize in a cake decorating competition at the fair.
Katy Nolte’s recipe for Vegan Chocolate Cake
* Contains no eggs or dairy products
3 cups flour
2/3 cup Ghirardelli cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups iced coffee
4 tsp. Amaretto
4 tsp. vinegar
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together except vinegar, then add vinegar.
• Pour into two nine-inch round pans, lightly oiled. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool and turn cake out onto serving plate. Spread a layer of raspberry preserves between the layers. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh raspberries.
