When the Hemophilia Alliance of Maine announced the winners of its first ever fundraising baking competition, Megan Brown’s name wasn’t on the list. That honor went to Cornerstone Food, which produced a flan.
But the Farmington single mother who sought to claim the title, with an entry of Thai ice tea cupcakes, said she learned a lot.
“It was great networking and I met some really cool people,” Brown said.
Brown was featured in a story in the Press Herald’s Food section in advance of the event and as a result, her great-aunt showed up at the competition. “And my boyfriend’s entire family showed up!”
That a flan won a baking competition that encouraged bakers to bring cookies, cupcakes or doughnuts might seem odd, but, after all, it is baked.
“We let it go as a cake,” said Jill Sallade-Packard, a founder of the Hemophilia Alliance of Maine.
Ten bakers competed at the event, which was held Saturday in Portland. Others had to cancel because of the power outages that affected much of Maine last week, she said. Sallade-Packard has two sons with hemophilia, aged 13 and 10, who number among the 400 people in Maine identified with hemophilia and many others who suffer from bleeding disorders, she said. Sallade-Packard started the group in 2010. This is the first year the alliance has held a baking contest. Other winners were Black Tie Bakes with a people’s choice award, Little Marie’s Hand Made Pies for Best Cookie, Sugar Supply for Best Cake, and Congdon’s doughnuts for Best Donut. The contest was open to individuals and businesses.
Brown said she was encouraged by the experience to enter other, more established competitions in the future. She said she broke even on the cost of her ingredients by selling baked goods at the event. She also connected with a baker just starting out with a gluten-free baking business; the two of them might team up some day. In the meantime, Brown said, she was happy to have participated. “They must have made a pretty good chunk of change, and it all goes to a good cause,” Brown said.
Mary Pols can be contacted at 791-6456 or at:
Twitter: MaryPols
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