competeing with the cheesecakes

rxcellentq

rxcellentq

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We did a comp this weekend and got our heads handed to us by the cheesecakes. They won 3 of the top five spots! I thought we made a rocking dessert of bread pudding with an Ameretto cream sauce but we came up short. What are you guys doing or should I just convert and enter cheesecake too?
 

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Cheesecake is the atomic bomb of dessert comps. It doesn't always blow everything else away, but to stand up to even an average cheesecake your "other dessert" entry must be very, very good.

Like all things competition, not saying it's right, but that's just how it is.
 
just last weekend i made baked apples stuffed with cheesecake and topped with a salted caramel sauce. everyone that tasted it loved it, been perfecting it for weeks. 7th place.....
but i will keep tweaking and try it again
 
The bread pudding never made it to my table. The cheese cake, lemon bar and baked apple were very good.

I didn't taste the bread pudding. The ramekins are attractive but you are not judged on the cookware. A strawberry swirl cheese cake is pretty with a lovely sliced strawberry on top and gets points for appearance. The baked apple was delicious but it lacked in presentation.

I hope this helped a little. I'm very new at judging, and this was my first comp as a judge.
 
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it did help, thank you! my presentatinon was weak all around but i'm working on it.
 
I am not questioning the scores, I tasted one of the cheesecakes and it was great. Im just trying to decide if you can't beat them join them. It seems that cheescake is a judges favorite and the rules don't say it has to be cooked do they?
 
What were your tenderness scores. :)
We recieved a 7 on tenderness once with anglefood cake!
 
rxcellentq said:
I am not questioning the scores, I tasted one of the cheesecakes and it was great. Im just trying to decide if you can't beat them join them. It seems that cheescake is a judges favorite and the rules don't say it has to be cooked do they?
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Most will say prepared or assembled on site, if cooked that done on site as well, I would hope the cheesecake was cooked on site but id have to review the rules for that event again. If they can bring premade, then i wouldn't bother entering, that's not a cooking contest, its who can buy the best desert.
 
mclancey said:
When judging dessert the tenderness score is changed to a creativity score.
Click to expand...

feel free to pm me any of your recipes, lol you have been on a tear with deserts!!

Not to mention nice job on the brisket and ribs!!!:clap:
 
You don't have to do cheesecake... at least not in the ST. Louis MO area comps. I have done very well in the dessert categories and I don't (and won't) do cheesecake. Most recently I had a 2nd place finish in a field of about 100 and i'm pretty sure the winner turned in bread pudding.

my two cents... The judges eat with their eyes first. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the pic was the lids. They are a bit of a distraction. Make it all about the food they are going to eat. You may want to "brighten" up your presentation with fruit or other garnish that works with your flavor profile and use a basic white lid.
 
I know a team that did real well with homemade ice cream. Of course you need a freezer. Chocolate and berries are also a winner as part of a dessert entry.

I also agree with the wow factor on presentation. If you don't get all 9's then the other 2 scores will be down. A cobbler with fruit on top will get attention as will that cheesecake. It's the toppings that usually make the difference.
 
no help here but bread pudding is my all time favorite and it looks damn tasty...
 
I considered ice cream using one of those soccer ball style freezers with ice and salt but was afraid the judges wouldn't consider it cooked. I do cook the ice cream base but it is not evident.
Do the rules say the entry must be assembled or prepared on site or cooked. If no heat is reqired that opens a whole new list of possabilities, ie instant pudding pie, trifle, ice box cake.
 
When were desserts judged? After the four categories? If so, there's a pretty simple reason why cheesecake trumps bread pudding. After four warm categories, judges are ready for something cool, refreshing, and smooth. (Even more so in summer). Cheesecake fits the bill, and it survives turn-in better than ice cream.
 
Goddahavit said:
feel free to pm me any of your recipes, lol you have been on a tear with deserts!!

Not to mention nice job on the brisket and ribs!!!:clap:
Click to expand...

It's not going to be until New Holland that I do a competiton with a Chef's Choice or Dessert Category again, but I'll show you (or any Brethren) exactly what I do for my dessert. I've strayed a little away from what I was doing the last 3 competitions before Middletown and was landing 3rds and 4ths with it. but all 4 times I've done the dessert that I did in Middletown it has come in first.
 
mclancey said:
It's not going to be until New Holland that I do a competiton with a Chef's Choice or Dessert Category again, but I'll show you (or any Brethren) exactly what I do for my dessert. I've strayed a little away from what I was doing the last 3 competitions before Middletown and was landing 3rds and 4ths with it. but all 4 times I've done the dessert that I did in Middletown it has come in first.
Click to expand...


your not cooking bbq for a cure in hatfield?
 
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