Nice and Light: Best of Show winner in Beth Tartan Cake contest likes to try new ideas

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Doris Patterson

The icing on Strawberry Delight Layer Cake is an airy mix of ingredients.

By: Michael Hastings | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: September 23, 2009

Doris Patterson was surprised to learn she won Best of Show in the Beth Tartan Cake Contest this year.

It wasn't that she didn't think that her cake was any good. It was just that she had already won Best of Show before, in 2004.

"What, again? I can't believe it," she said when she got the news.

Patterson's was one of 114 cakes that raised $1,200 for the March of Dimes. The cakes were judged Friday, then sold Saturday during the N.C. Chili Championship and Rubber Duck Regatta at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons. Unsold cakes were donated to the Samaritan's Kitchen.

The contest, sponsored by the Winston-Salem Journal, is named after the Journal's former food editor, Beth Tartan, who died in 1992.

In 2004, Patterson's Heavenly Pineapple Cake wowed judges.

This year, it was her Strawberry Delight Layer Cake, a moist and fluffy four-layer cake loaded with strawberry flavor.

"This was a new concoction I came up with," she said.

Her icing, though, is similar to the one on her pineapple cake. It's an airy combination of cream cheese, sour cream, strawberries and Cool Whip. "That combination makes it nice and light," she said. "It's not heavy like buttercream."

She also took first-place ribbons in 2000 and 2006. Patterson said she tries to enter every year. She can think of only two times that she didn't -- once because of a wedding and once because of a trip.

And when she enters, she likes to enter something new.

"I'm always working on new stuff," she said. "You can make the same cake forever. But I like to try different things."

Strawberry Delight Layer Cake

Best of Show submitted by Doris Patterson.

1 box yellow-cake mix

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup white sugar

¼ cup sour cream

½ cup cut-up strawberries

1 12-ounce container whipped topping, thawed

1 3-ounce box strawberry gelatin

Sliced strawberries

1. Prepare yellow-cake mix to make 2 layers, according to package instructions.

2. After cake cools, cut each layer in half to create 4 thin layers.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar in electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sour cream, the cut-up strawberries and whipped topping until well combined.

3. Mix gelatin according to package directions; cool slightly, but keep it pourable. Set aside about half of the gelatin; reserve another use. Pour about ¼ cup of the remaining strawberry gelatin over the first layer, using just enough to moisten it. Cover that with a single layer of sliced strawberries. Coat the berries with a thin layer of frosting. Repeat, stacking second and third layers. Add fourth layer and coat top and sides with frosting. Keep refrigerated.

mhastings@wsjournal.com 727-7394

Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. 3159,

Winston-Salem, NC 27102

His most recent columns can be read on our Web site at www.journalnow.com.

Cake contest winners

Here are all the winners in the 2009 Beth Tartan Cake Contest.

Best of Show

Doris Patterson, Winston-Salem

Cheesecake

First: Shanna Campbell, Walkertown

Second: Mary Pickard, Lewisville

Third: Marty Cass, Union Grove

Chocolate

First: Patricia Chulick, Harmony

Second: Lauren Wolfe, Kernersville

Third: Edna Butcher, Winston-Salem

Fruit and/or Nuts

First: Doris Patterson, Winston-Salem

Second: Kim Hawkins, Lewisville

Third: Marilyn McKenna, Winston-Salem

Pound cake

First: Ann Smith, Mocksville

Second: Robin Lowder, Winston-Salem

Third: Mary Pickard, Lewisville

Vegetable (such as carrot cake

First: Rita Rankin, Winston-Salem

Second: Marilyn McKenna, Winston-Salem

Third: Antonette Roberts-Davis, Winston-Salem

Miscellaneous

First: Lori Ann Schultz, Kernersville

Second: Marilyn McKenna, Winston-Salem

Third: Donna Grube, East Bend

Chili championship winners

Here are the top winners of the chili competition Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons. Winners are listed by team or chili name, followed by chief cook: