Looking for Blue Ribbon Cake Recipes
 

It's county fair time again. It seems like just yesterday that I asked the QBers this question: What's the best, blue ribbon worthy layer cake recipe? The fact is, with Covid and everything else, it's actually been a few years since I considered entering our County Fair Baked Goods Competition and posed this question to you all. I'm getting my courage up and I'm going to enter again this year. Here are some of the cakes that I'm considering:

Lemon Cake with tart lemon filling or?

Coconut cake with coconut covered frosting

Double Chocolate Cake with fudge frosting

That Killer Cake that I posted here a couple of months ago. (Sorry, I forget the name of it.)

Hummingbird Cake (I entered this last time)

Any other good ideas? Any recipe that you've tried already and found it to be excellent?

Thanks!

Minesota Choc cake, best chocolate cake out there. Just google, easy to find.

Yum! Tropit, I volunteer to be your taste tester!

I think I will go to this website and try making these to figure out what cake you should enter: https://morningchores.com/award-winning-cake-recipes/

Tres Leche Cake served with fresh fruit on top! I have BFF's recipe if you want it.

Thanks everyone. I'll look up that chocolate cake. Yes, I'd love the Tres Leche cake reipe, if it's not a bother.

I forgot to mention that they do not accept anything that needs to be refrigerated.

I have to say that last year there were NO entries in the "Layer Cake" division and very few competitors at all in the baked goods division. Our fair is very small, so I don't think that I'll have much competition this year...fingers crossed. Never the less, I do want to make something really good, moist, excellent crumb, can stand up to being on display, etc. I'm putting the challenge more on myself, then against the other possible competitors.

My Dau gets into it too, so we have fun doing it together. We may enter a couple of other categories too s/a biscuits, cookies, pies, etc. They also have a big gardener's section, but I have no idea what will be ready by then in the garden. My DH makes great beer and hard sparkling cider. The kids and I have really been pushing him to enter the "Home Brew" categories. Personally, I think that his cider is so good...it's like drinking Champagne. His beer is really good too!

I will not enter the quilting competition. There are 3 ladies that are amazing quilters and they enter every year. No way am I up to their level, but I do enjoy looking at all of their entries.

I've found a couple more recipes that I may try for the fair.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. (I've made this before and my family said it was top notch. I have my own recipe for this.)
Hot Chocolate Cake. https://thecakeblog.com/2016/12/hot-chocolate-cake.html
Hazelnut Latte Cake. https://maverickbaking.com/hazelnut-latte-cake/

I'm still into a simple, Lemon Cake. I'm going to try out this recipe this week. https://www.wellplated.com/lemon-layer-cake/

It sits out at room temperature. You can bring it in the day before the fair starts and they do the judging within a couple of hours...I hope. The cake will then be displayed for several days with any ribbons won. All of the baked goods look pretty sorry by the last days of the fair. They do not allow any entries that need to be refrigerated. I'm assuming that whipped cream is out.

I am on our local county fair board and I also judge other fairs in Open Class and 4-H. First of all thank you for entering. I hear so many people say that there is nothing to look at and at the same time find out that they do not enter anything. If you want a fair, people need to enter items.
I don't know your categories and rules so here are a few ideas: a classic from scratch Angel Food cake, chiffon cake, any flavor of a layer cake, petit fours.
Good luck and thank you for entering.