About 60 miles outside of Dallas sits a small town named Mabank. Probably not unusual for the Texas state baking champ to come from a small town like that. But when the State Fair of Texas’ “Battle for the Blue Ribbons.” announced their winner for best fruit pie in the state everyone did a double take. At first they thought Roseanne Parsons was the winner as she made her way up the aisle. But hadn't they said a man's name? The winner for best fruit pie was Allen Gage. Then they noticed Allen was holding Roseann's hand. His moms' hand. Allen is 7 years old.
Roseanne says "When people realized it was him — not me — who won, they started clapping and cheering. The auditorium got louder and louder! By the time we got near the stage everybody was high-fiving him and giving him fist bumps. It was super cool, like something you'd see in a movie!"
Roseanne assured everyone not only didn't she help Allen and was actually competing against him with her blackberry crumb pie. Allen says his crust is what sets his pie apart from the others. Particularly his detailed lattice work on the crust, which he enjoys "painting" with an egg wash.
Next up Allen competes for the "Best of Show" title on October 6th. We are all hoping he wins because if he does, his recipe will be featured in the State Fair of Texas cookbook.