Eaters Digest is delivered as a free newsletter via email, as well as on our website. Click here to become a Lookout member – and access all of Lily’s food and beverage reporting.
MAKE THIS: JANICE WEAVER’S BEST IN SHOW APPLE PIE
As one of four judges at the 48th annual Apple Pie Contest on the opening day of the Santa Cruz County Fair, my job was straightforward: help assess and rate nearly 50 entries for appearance, texture and taste. All of the pies contained only apples, with a top and bottom crust.
But after nearly four hours of tasting on Wednesday, I realized how that simple format can contain astonishing multitudes. Crusts can range from tender to tough, filling can be bland to overspiced, with a texture somewhere between al dente and applesauce.
I also discovered my physical threshold for pie eating lies somewhere far, far below the 30-plus pies I sampled throughout the day.
Did judging the contest ruin apple pie for me forever? No, thank goodness, but I did gain a deep appreciation for great apple pie. Creating the sublime ideal of pie-hood – buttery tender yet flaky crust and sweetly spiced apple filling – is no easy task, and I admired everyone who took the time and effort to put their homebaked, golden-brown hat in the ring.
In the end, Best in Show winner Janice Weaver from Santa Cruz took home the top prize for both aesthetics and flavor, with a beautifully decorated pie that boasted a flaky, buttery crust that crackled under the knife. This is her fourth blue ribbon, after wins in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
According to Weaver, the secret to a great pie is practice. Even though she’s made countless pies in her lifetime, she still makes a “practice pie” every year before the fair, and gets feedback from her neighbors.
While she doesn’t elaborate on her technique in her recipe, you can use her instructions as a guideline for a great apple pie. Her extremely flaky yet tender crust takes skill and technique to create, and that’s not easily shared. Don’t forget to decorate your pie, as Weaver did, with a neat crimped edge and small hearts made of pie dough.
Read my behind-the-scenes experience as an apple pie judge, and find Weaver’s recipe here.
BEST OF THE WEEK AHEAD
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
ICYMI – here are food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed.
- La Bahia’s Pearl bar shines, but Low Tide restaurant falls short of lofty expectations (Lookout)
- Verve removes ‘confusing’ 5% service fee from all coffeehouses (Lookout)
- Longtime harbor restaurant Johnny’s gets a reset with chef Jeffrey Wall and owner Ciera Kash (Lookout)
