By Connie Leinbach
Ocracoke visitors captured fig cake-baking glory on Saturday when they won the Fig Cake bake-off during the Ocracoke Fig Festival in the Berkley Barn.
A large crowd assembled inside the barn to watch the signature event unfold as the judges sampled the seven traditional, 14 innovative and three youth entries.
The cakes are numbered for the “blind” tasting and the winners’ names are revealed after the judges have chosen.
Kerstin Nygard of Durham won in the traditional category and Penny Cobb of Wilson was the runner up.
In this category, bakers must use only ingredients in the traditional recipe (found in local cookbooks): flour, sugar, oil/butter/margarine, eggs, pecans/walnuts, fig preserves, milk/buttermilk, vanilla and salt/spices. A sugar glaze or buttermilk frosting is also acceptable. A traditional Ocracoke Fig Cake Recipe also is available online at the Ocracoke Preservation Society’s webpage: www.ocracokepreservation.org.
“The judges had to fight it out to pick the winner,” Sundae Horn, event organizer, said about the quality of the cakes.
In the innovative category, in which any dessert goes as long as it contains figs, Michelle Thornell of Emerald Isle with her “Skyscraper” cake, featuring layers of traditional fig cake between layers of cheesecake, covered with cheesecake icing, topped with spiced fig candied walnuts and brown turkey figs, captured first place along with co-winner Kristi Reichard of York Springs, Pa., with her lemon honey fig preserves, toasted almond, diplomat cream decorated with fresh blue figs.
Judges rated the entries on presentation, flavors and “figginess,” Horn said. After the judging, it’s a “fig for all” in which everyone gets to taste the entries.
Amanda O’Shaughnessy and James Hall were runners up with their version of a Smith Island cake with figs and oranges, topped with a chocolate glaze.
Sheri Castle, the host of “The Key Ingredient,” an Emmy-winning cooking show from PBS North Carolina that airs across the country, was the celebrity chef and also a judge for the innovative entries.
“I was impressed by the technical level of competency and creativity,” she said about the cakes. “No two were alike.”
After visiting Chef Ricky Moore’s Salt Box restaurant where she saw that he’d been the celebrity chef at the 2022 Fig Festival, first-time bake-off contestant Rachel Moreschi of Durham decided to enter four small rosemary honey fig cakes in the shapes of skulls. It was her first time entering a baking competition after having completed the Ballymore Cooking School in Cork, Ireland.
Of the three youth entries, Noah Folliard won with his fig cake with buttercream icing with raspberries and mint.
“All three judges quickly came to a consensus,” said first-time judge Matt Jansen about the youth entries. “But we appreciated all the efforts.”
Polliard’s entry bested first-time entrant Presley Lipscomb, 11, of Holly Springs, who brought homemade fig ice cream.
Islander Debbie Leonard, who also volunteered as a cake cutter, submitted a peanut butter and jelly fig cake complete with a tiny PB&J sandwich decoration.
“Every part of it was edible,” she said.
On Friday, festival goers lined up out the barn door to taste the 35 entries for the traditional and innovative fig preserves contest, the winters of which are chosen by popular vote.
Lisa Richardson of Richmond, Va., had no problem tasting all of the entries and differentiating them.
“I love figs,” she said between bites, “and I’ve got my favorites.”
“They’re very different, even the traditional,” noted Laura McClain, who organized the tasting.
Capturing the innovative category with her jalapeno preserves was first-time entrant Angela Cox of Darlington. That was one of three preserves for this first-time entrant.
Islander John Simpson (this year’s Fig Festival poster and T-shirt artist) was runner-up with his bourbon fig barbecue sauce.
Kathy Griffin won for best traditional preserves and islander Marlene Mathews was the runner-up.
The Ocracoke Fig Festival is presented by the nonprofit Ocracoke Preservation Society. All funds raised after expenses go to Ocracoke Preservation Society to support their mission.
OPS Administrator Andrea Tolson noted the great turnout for the event.
“As far as fundraisers, it was a huge success for us,” she said. “We’re very appreciative of all the people that come out and the volunteers.”
Horn noted that a number of attendees were first timers along with repeat visitors.
“But almost everyone I talked to had planned their vacation around the Fig Festival and were intentional about being there even if it was the first time they came,” she said.
Entertainment included Martin Garrish & Friends, Molasses Creek, Raygun Ruby and the Ocracoke Rockers.
Next year’s festival will be Aug. 1 and 2.
