-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
The $1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest" continues to keep a steady crowd of contestants and onlookers. Here, contestants and their families await the decision of who will win the prize money for the best cinnamon roll at the fair.

SPENCER — Mashed potatoes were the secret ingredient in the prize-winning entry in this year’s “$1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest” at the Clay County Fair (CCF).

They were created by Rachel Hoffman of Ruthven (Palo Alto County). She was the recipient of the $1,500 prize money awarded by first-place sponsor, Farmer’s Savings Bank of Milford and Fostoria.

The cinnamon roll contest has been part of the Clay County Fair since 2004.

“This would have been the 19th year, but in 2020 there wasn’t a fair–so this was the 18th year of the contest, and this is the 17th year that the bank has been the first-place sponsor,” said Brad Simington, bank president.

Thirty-three entries were brought in for judging — from simple frosted rolls to caramel nut rolls.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Barb Sexton was one of four judges at the Clay County Fair's "$1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest." She said cinnamon rolls are judged on appearance, texture and taste, among other things.

Hoffman brought in a frosted cinnamon roll entry and captured the big money on her second try at bringing them to the fair. She said she used to make the rolls in 4-H and took them to the state fair, and because they thought her rolls were so good, friends and family encouraged her to enter them.

Hoffman said the only “secret ingredient” she could think of in her recipe was mashed potatoes.

“I also put vanilla bean paste in the frosting, so it was nothing too crazy,” she said, adding that she did both of those things in her entry last year as well. “I refrigerated these a couple of times during the process, so maybe that improved the texture — I don’t know.”

Hoffman is planning to purchase a new mixer with her cash winnings.

JUDGES COMMENTS

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Judge Diane Nelsen said aroma is one of the key factors in judging cinnamon rolls. She also said cinnamon can get old, so it's important to keep it fresh in stock.

Judges critique the cinnamon rolls on several factors, including flavor — which accounts for 50 percent of the score. Ten percent of the score comes from aroma, 10 percent from texture, and 20 percent from appearance.

“How the roll tastes is the most important part of it,” said judge Barb Sexton. “To get in the top three, all of those things have to line up.”

Sexton said this year’s winning entry had great flavor, tremendous texture and volume, and a frosting that complimented the roll without dominating it.

Judges choose the top 10 rolls, then award ribbons to the top three placings.

This year’s judges said many exhibitors used potato water or mashed potatoes in some way, and that they saw many different kinds of textures of rolls.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
More than 30 entries made up this year's "$1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest" at the Clay County Fair. Farmer's Savings Bank of Milford and Fostoria continue to pay out the earnings to the first-place baker.

The differences in textures can come from the kneading process, the judges agreed.

“Machine mixing is fine, but hand-mixing is always better,” said Iris Hemmingsen, one of the judges. “If you’re over-mixing sometimes (the dough) gets brittle, and you would never allow that when you’re mixing with your hands.”

Judge Diane Nelsen said, “You want tacky, but not sticking to the sides of everything.”

The judges said they saw more variety in frostings this year.

“I had a frosting that was semi-transparent,” said judge Jennifer Loudermilk. “It had a brown sugar that was fairly well-dissolved, and it didn’t hide the roll, but gave it a brown glisten. It was a fabulous look.”

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
CINNAMON ROLL JUDGES tasted more than 30 different trays of cinnamon rolls at this year's "$1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest."

Nelsen said there is a “fine line” when it comes to knowing how much frosting to apply.

“You want to make sure your frosting accents your roll, but doesn’t overpower it,” she said, adding that frostings that are ‘super sweet’ or ‘super thick’ can overpower a roll.

Sexton said she had several recipes calling for three eggs.

“It was a nice rich dough and had a pretty golden yellow color — and they bake up nice and have a nice golden color, and it adds to the flavor,” she said. “Some of mine used vanilla extract, some with lemon extract or almond extract — in the dough or in the frosting.”

Loudermilk said the frosting on the winning entry contained vanilla bean, which she said would be a ‘“fabulous flavor.” She also said flavors differ very much between vanilla extract, pure vanilla and vanilla bean. She also said the type of cinnamon can matter very much — fresh, versus cinnamon that is old, which tends not to have much flavor.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Frostings and icings were varied and plentiful at this year's "$1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest" at the Clay County Fair. Judges said that getting the ratio of "frostings to rolls" right was helpful in moving up the ladder to the winnings.

WHY A CINNAMON

ROLL CONTEST?

“It was Brad’s mom’s (Sharon Simington’s) idea,” said Laurie Simington, marketing and events coordinator for Farmer’s Savings Bank. “She was once superintendent of the baked goods, and saw they were doing it at the state fair with great success. Part of the idea of cinnamon rolls is that you don’t want something that’s too easy, but everybody can do.”

Simington said a cinnamon roll can turn out different on any given day.

“It’s definitely popular. Everybody loves cinnamon rolls, sweet rolls, sticky rolls — there’s a million different names for them,” said Brad Simington, adding that the crowd tends to grow each year.

Laurie Simington added, “I’m surprised at the number of people here just to watch it, and how much interest there is.”

Brad Simington remembered one year when a woman baked her rolls in her RV oven. This year they said they saw an entry that looked almost burned, but that it was a brown butter dark caramel frosting.

“The judge commented that it was very unusual and that she was excited to taste it,” said Laurie Simington.

The cinnamon roll contest used to carry a $1,000 cash award, but the Simingtons decided to “sweeten the deal,” they said, by adding another $500 to the kitty.

“Food has always been a big part of the fair,” said Brad Simington. “When you go back 50 years to when people were bringing their lunches to the fair like chicken dinners, etc., food has been part of the fair and it still is.”

Laurie Simington added, “Farmer’s Savings Bank has been involved with the fair for generations, so it’s just fun to be a sponsor of this event.”

Clay County Fair

2022 Winning Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Dough:

2 pkgs. Quick-rise yeast

½ cup warm water

2 tsp. honey

1-1/2 cups warm milk

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup mashed potatoes

3 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

2 tsp. salt

7-1/2 to 8 cups flour

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 T. cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp. flour

½ cup butter, softened

Dash of salt

In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and honey. In large bowl, combine milk, sugar, butter, potatoes, eggs, salt, yeast mixture and 4 cups flour. Beat at medium speed until smooth, then stir in remaining flour. Knead until smooth. Place in greased bowl to let rise until doubled. Combine filling ingredients. Roll dough into 24×12-inch rectangle. Spread with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll jelly roll style and pinch seams. Cut into 12 slices and place in two greased 9×13 pans. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, covering with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Frosting:

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

1/3 cup butter, softened

Mix ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle over rolls.

Iced Caramel Rolls

Clay County Fair

2022 2nd Place Winner

Dough:

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup butter

3-1/2 cups flour

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2-1/4 tsp. yeast

1 large egg

1 yolk from large egg

Filling:

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Icing:

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. milk

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Warm milk and add butter, stir until melted. Set aside. In bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix until combined. Add milk mixture to bowl and mix until dry ingredients are incorporated. Add eggs and egg yolk and mix until combined. Add remaining flour and beat until all flour is incorporated. Continue to knead with dough hook for 5 more minutes. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form a ball, coating dough with flour. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Combine brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into rectangles. Spread with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll dough into log and cut into 12 equal-sized pieces. Place in greased pan and let rise until doubled. Bake 18 minutes, then cover with foil and bake an additional 6-8 minutes. Remove and let cool. Combine icing ingredients and ice the rolls.

Caramel Rolls

Clay County Fair 2022

3rd Place Winner

Caramel:

½ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white syrup

Combine in saucepan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour into roll baking pan and let cool. Place pecans on top or bottom of rolls.

Dough:

3 cups lukewarm water

1 cup sugar

1 stick margarine

Add ½ pkg. yeast (1-1/2 tsp.)

Add 10-12 cups flour

Stir up at 5 p.m. Mix all ingredients, using just enough flour to make a soft dough. Punch down every hour. Roll out dough at 9 p.m. to ½-inch thickness. Spread butter on dough; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up, cut and place into pans ready to bake in the morning and cover with a towel.

Bake next morning in 350-degree oven for 16 minutes.