Oh wow! I need a cinnamon roll!

Five days after our "Great Cinnamon Roll Challenge of 2024" at the Iowa State Fair, I'm in roll withdrawal. Let's see if this photographic review will help me (and you).

DES MOINES, Iowa — For two hours and 10 minutes last Saturday afternoon, I had full plates of championship cinnamon rolls by Anita Van Gundy, of Des Moines, and Marianne Carlson, of Jefferson, within arm’s reach of me at the Iowa State Fair.

And as the emcee and tie-breaking judge of the “Great Cinnamon Roll Challenge of 2024,” I think I could’ve gotten away with grabbing a whole roll from each plate and wolfing them down. But I rose above the temptation, my good people. I ate only a pinch from each plate of the best of the best rolls.

Now, five days later, I’ve got a real hankering for a cinnamon roll, you know?

I hope you got a chance to read my column last Sunday, written right after the end of the challenge in the Elwell Family Food Center at the fairgrounds.

Now, just for fun, let’s do a mostly-photo flashback to the roll show. I think you’ll understand why my mouth is watering, probably like the mouths of the six other judges and of the contest coordinator Jamie Buelt.

The photos were taken by Mary Riche, Gary Buelt, Jamie Buelt and me.

The grand champions were these rolls made by Anita Van Gundy. They won best “Traditional Cinnamon Roll” and the “Overall” contest, bringing her $2,000 in prize money.

The poster promoting the contest — and designating me “a cinnamon roll sommelier.”

That’s me, Chuck Offenburger, as emcee, interviewing cinnamon contest coordinator and chief sponsor Jamie Buelt, of Ankeny.

The contest attracted a very attentive audience that at one point grew to 200 people or more.

Here’s a tableful of the “Traditional Cinnamon Rolls” arriving for judging.

And here’s a look at a tableful of the “Specialty Rolls.”

I paused the contest briefly to introduce a special guest in the audience. He is Henry Hecht, of New York City, a classmate of mine at Vanderbilt University way back in the last century. Henry was a highly-regarded sportswriter who, early in his career, was the New York Post’s beat writer covering the New York Yankees in the championship “Bronx Zoo Years” of the 1970s. But last weekend, he was just a happy grandfather introducing his family to one of America’s real attractions — the Iowa State Fair. At one point during his stroll of the state fair’s amenities, Hecht texted me, saying, “These funnel cakes are obscenely delicious!”

That’s Henry Hecht in the foreground, his wife Sally Wasserman behind him in the pink T-shirt, their daughter Isabelle Jacobson standing to the left), and son-in-law Ben Jacobson (holding his son Leo, 4) standing at the right. Somewhere there, behind the adults, is the Jacobsons’ daughter Ella, 6. The Jacobsons, who live in Palm Gardens, Florida, sparked the idea for them all to visit the Iowa State Fair, after they visited the Florida State Fair in 2023. After that experience, they began studying which states have the best state fairs — and we welcomed them to Iowa!

Saturday was also Isabelle Jacobson’s 33rd birthday, so I had the crowd join me in singing her a rousing “Happy Birthday.”

Let’s meet the six real judges of the cinnamon rolls, starting here with Eileen Gannon, of Mingo. All the judges have excellent baking credentials, have been big time winners in other food contests at past Iowa State Fairs, and/or love eating cinnamon rolls.

Another judge, Doug Moore, of Ames. Moore is an entrepreneur who travels widely for business, and sends me photos from all over everywhere of good cinnamon rolls he has found (and is eating).

Judge Dianna Sheehy, of Audubon, is best known as a pie baker but she’s been a winner in many different food contests at the state fair.

Here’s a highly unusual plate of “Specialty rolls” — which, as I recall, featured among other berries, lingonberries!

Dr. Dan McGuire, a Des Moines surgeon, said his qualification to be a judge in the contest was “that I’ve been eating cinnamon rolls at Iowa hospitals for 40 years.”

Judge McGuire obviously liked that one!

Amy Moore, of Ames, is a “Double Judge.” Yes, besides being a graduate of the French Pastry School of Chicago, and thus an excellent judge of baked goods, she is also an Iowa District Court Judge.

Another judge Lana Shope, of Des Moines, also runs the well-known business “Pies & Pastries by Lana.”

I waded into the crowd, during the judging, to chat with DeeDee Kennedy, of Des Moines, and her husband Bob. DeeDee won the grand championship of cinnamon rolls in our 2023 contest, and she had the second-place among “Traditional Cinnamon Rolls” in this year’s contest.

Here’s the overall champ — Anita Van Gundy, of Des Moines, who won both the “Traditional Cinnamon Rolls” division as well as the “Overall” championship. Her big win came on her 75th birthday, too!

Here’s Marianne Carlson, of Jefferson, and her winners of the “Specialty Cinnamon Rolls” class.  She called it a “Smoky Bacon Caramel Pecan Roll.” These were also runners-up in the “Overall” judging, and her “Traditional Cinnamon Roll” was fourth place in that division. Her winnings totaled $1,100.

Here I’m interviewing one of the youngest contestants in the cinnamon roll baking contest, while Iowa PBS records her comments on video. Iowa PBS featured the cinnamon roll contest on its Tuesday night, Aug. 13, show of highlights from the Iowa State Fair.

Here’s that young 4H member from Warren County who was one of our contestants. She and Lily Zabel, 14, of Ankeny, each were awarded $50 for being the youngest people to enter the cinnamon roll challenge.

Again, here’s champion Anita Van Gundy, of Des Moines, with her rolls, along with three of the four sponsors of the “Great Cinnamon Roll Challenge of 2024.” Left to right are me, Jamie Buelt and Doug Moore. The fourth sponsor asked to remain anonymous. There was a total of $5,000 in prizes for the contestants.

—

You can comment on this column below or write the columnist directly by email at chuck@offenburger.com.

--

A NOTE TO MY READERS: I write this column, “Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger,” as a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. You can subscribe for free. However, if you enjoy my work, please consider showing your support by becoming a paid subscriber at whatever level feels right for you. The cost is less than $2 per column.

Here is a link to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Sunday Roundup, where you can get a compilation of our members’ work published the previous week.

Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup

Linking readers and professional writers who care about Iowa.

By Julie Gammack

The Iowa Writers Collaborative is made up of some of the foremost regional journalists in the country. Each writer is independent and has a Substack of their own.