PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — There were two people who tied for first place among the 11 contestants in the first Flavor of Aroostook Whoopie Pie Contest held Thursday, Aug. 3, inside the Agriculture Exhibition Hall at the Northern Maine Fair..
All of the contestants were from Aroostook County.
The Flavor of Aroostook Contest was held for the first time at the Northern Maine Fair with cash prizes of $75 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place. Points were awarded by the two judges based on taste, appearance and how well the whoopie pie represents Aroostook County.
“Whoopie pies are very synonymous with Aroostook County,” said Dianna Day, member of the Northern Maine Fair Committee. “Everybody loves a whoopie pie.”
Judges for the whoopie pie competition were Ibrahim Kutay Ozturk, professor of potato pathology for The University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and David Lowe, sustainable agriculture and horticulture professor at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
Results from the judges were a tie for first place between a chocolate strawberry whoopie pie by Phil Gleichman and oatmeal cream whoopie pie by Ashley Bartol. Second place went to Lisa Fishman for a potato spice cake with a maple cream meringue filling and third place went to Lois Griffin for a chocolate potato butter cream whoopie pie.
The small crowd watched as the judges went down the line to sample each of the entries and tally their scores. There was a little discussion between the judges if there should be a tie breaker, but ultimately the contest ended in a tie.
The strawberries for the chocolate strawberry whoopie pie came from McElwain’s Strawberry Farm in Caribou, Gleichman said.
After the contest was over, the whoopie pies were sold to the audience for $1 per whoopie pie.
Correction: An earlier version of this story, misidentified the building where the contest took place. It was in the Agriculture Exhibition Hall at the Northern Maine Fair.
