Other Category Runners-Up

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Mary Beth Brennan, DuBois

Ingredients:
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
1 Hershey's Symphony Bar
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 pint whipping cream
chocolate wafers (made into a crumb crust with 1/3 cup melted margarine)

Directions:

Melt marshmallows in the milk in the microwave (about 1 1/2 minutes on 100%). Stir well. Add peanut butter and chocolate bar pieces. Stir until chocolate is melted. Cool completely. Whip whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cooled chocolate mixture. Place into mini-muffin tins that have been lined with chocolate crumb mixture. Refrigerate until firm.


Pumpkin Cake Roll
Evelyn Hoare, Reynoldsville

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
sifted powdered sugar
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
(2) 3 oz. packages cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

In a large mixer bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes; gradually beat in granulated sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. In a small bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Spread batter in a greased and floured 15x10x1" jellyroll pan. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Immediately invert cake onto a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up cake and towel, jellyroll style, starting from one of the short sides. Cool completely. Unroll cake. For filling, in a small mixer bowl, beat the 1 cup powdered sugar, cream cheese, margarine or butter and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed till smooth. Spread over cake; re-roll cake. Cover and chill. To serve, cut cake crosswise into 1" slices. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Pie Category Runners-Up

Coconut Cream Pie
Patricia Crater, Curwensville

Pie Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks (beaten)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1 baked 9" pie shell

Meringue Ingredients:

3 egg whites (at room temperature)
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

Combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks in medium-sized saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Add tablespoon of butter and teaspoon of vanilla. Remove from heat. Pour filling into pie shell. Press the 1/2 cup of flaked coconut onto top of filling. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat room-temperature egg whites with mixer on high for 1 minute. Slowly add 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter and 1/4 cup of sugar and mix on high until soft peaks form. Add vanilla. Smooth the meringue mixture on top of pie and sprinkle flaked coconut on top. Bake pie in oven for 10-15 minutes until peaks of meringue lightly browns. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie
Pat Salser, Brockport

Use a pre-made crust

Filling Ingredients & Directions:

6 cups sliced, peeled apples
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and toss apples until coated, then add to crust.

Crumb Topping Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup butter

Directions:

Using a pastry blender, cut in butter till the topping mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover filling with topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove pie from oven. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts and caramel ice cream topping. Serve warm with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cake Category Runners-Up

White Chocolate/Strawberry (or Raspberry) Angel Fluff
Laurie Leone, DuBois

Ingredients:

1 box Angel Food cake mix
2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced (may use 2 bags of frozen raspberries, thawed)
5-6 whole strawberries for topping
(1) 16 oz. bag white chocolate chips
1 lg. tub Cool Whip
3 cups cold milk + 1/2 cup more
2 small boxes instant white chocolate pudding

("Light" version can be made with sugar-free pudding, fat-free skim milk and lite Cool Whip)

Directions:

Prepare Angel Food cake according to directions on box, but bake in a 9x13" pan. When cooled, slice through center to make a top and bottom half. Cube each half into bite-sized pieces. Keep them in separate bowls so you have equal amounts. In large glass bowl, or small punch bowl, put 1/2 of the cut up Angel Food cake pieces. Place 1/2 strawberries on top of pudding. Next, sprinkle 1/3 of white chocolate chips and a layer of 1/2 of Cool Whip. Repeat. To "fan" whole strawberries for topping, use an egg slicer and cut almost through to hull, but not the whole way through. Gently spread strawberry out like a fan. Arrange on top of last Cool Whip layer. Sprinkle with white chocolate chips around the strawberries. Cover and refrigerate.

Carrot Cheesecake
Suellen Stoneberg, Brockway

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling Ingredients:

(3) 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups chopped carrots, cooked and pureed

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 2" up the sides of a greased 9" spring-form pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugars until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the cream, cornstarch, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and cinnamon. Fold in carrots.

Pour into crust. Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16" square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a larger baking pan. Add 1" of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes until center is just set.

Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over filling. Bake 7-10 minutes longer. Remove pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan. Makes 10-12 servings.