Baking Competition

We held a friendly baking competition for the Apricot Tsaqwem Festival on July 23, 2023! Scroll down for the list of baking competition prize winners! Futher, down we list all the businesses who donated prizes and sponsored this event. Check out some of the entries! Don’t they look amazing?

A festival celebrating apricots and tsaqwem (saskatoon berries) should include eating these delicious fruits so we thought having a baking competition would be fun! So all entries must contain apricots or tsaqwem (saskatoon berries) or both.

Everyone is welcome to come watch the judging and participate in the event. Doors open at 10:00 am and there will be a $5.00 guest entry fee (or pay what you can afford). Competitors are excluded from this charge. A bake sale will be held after prizes are awarded so you’ll have the opportunity to buy and eat the delicious entries! Fantastic Door Prizes for Guests!

Who Can Enter the Apricot Tsaqwem Festival Baking Competition?

Anyone! We welcome individuals, families, and teams.

How Do I Enter The Baking Competition?

Registration is now closed. You can pre-registration at the Miyazaki House 9 am – 6 pm daily, online using the form below, or you can register the day of the event July 23, 2023 between 9:00 and 9:55 am.

Rules

All baked entries must fit one of the four category descriptions:

• Pies – Both single and double crusts are acceptable.
• Cakes – All types of cakes and cupcakes are accepted in this category.
• Quick Breads – muffins, scones and other quick breads are acceptable.
• Kitchen sink – If your baked good does not fall in the categories above it fits in this one, everything but the kitchen sink!

All submitted baked goods must contain apricots or tsaqwem (saskatoon berries) or both.

Participants may enter their baked good using any recipe, it does not need to be an original recipe created by the contestant. Recipes may come from cookbooks, passed down through the generations, magazines, websites, or any other means.

All submissions will become property of the Miyazaki House Society
.

Submissions must be home baked (not store bought).

All submissions are to be submitted as a whole (complete pie, complete cake, complete loaf, etc.) or in the quantity of a dozen or more.

All submissions should be presented in a sealed container or in a new ziploc bag or a new bag with a twist tie.


All containers used to submit the entry are the responsibility of the entrant. It is the entrant’s responsibility to pick up their container

Finalists agree to be photographed which may be used for future promotional materials for the Miyazaki House Society.

Check in with entries will only be accepted between the hours of 9:00 am and 9:55 on Sunday, July 23, 2023 and may be submitted by the entrant or by a representative of the contestant in the case of the contestant not being able to make it during this time frame.

How Will Baking Be Judged?

All entries must meet the requirements of the category entered. Recipes not meeting contest entry criteria will be disqualified. Entries will be judged in the following criteria:

• Appearance
• Taste
• Consistency and texture
• Creativity

How Will Finalists Be Selected?

Judges are required to taste test all entries. Each judge will complete a judging sheet which will indicate each entry’s score. Each criterion will require a score of 1 to 10, dependent on that criterion. A combined score will be calculated to indicate the final scoring placement.

What Happens If I Win?

One finalist from each category will win First prize. Prizes will also be awarded for second and third place. Selected finalists will be notified after the judging period, between 11 and noon. All contestants or a representative are expected to be physically present for the announcement and accept their prize at that time.

Congratulations to the 2023 Apricot Tsaqwem Festival Baking Competition Winners

Pies – Both traditional Canadian style single and double crusts traditional were accepted in this category.

• 1st Place Apricot Hand Pies baked by Jo Vanderwolf
• 2nd Place Roasted Apricot & Rosemary Tart baked by Rebecca Jantzen
• 3rd Place Morroccan Apricot Chicken Pot Pie baked by Melvin Merasty

Cakes – All types of cakes and cupcakes were accepted in this category. We received the most entries in this category so the competition was tough!

• 1st Place Apricot Shortcake baked by Jo Vanderwolf
• 2nd Place Red Velvet Cake with Apricot filling and buttercream icing baked by Dominic Adrian
• 3rd Place Apricot Cupcakes baked by Jo Vanderwolf

Quick Breads – muffins, scones and other quick breads were accepted.

• 1st Place Apricot Scones filled with Apricot Honey Butter baked by Jo Vanderwolf
• 2nd Place Apricot Almond Muffins baked by Jo Vanderwolf

Kitchen sink – for baked goods that did not fall in the categories above, everything but the kitchen sink! We had some entries that were not baked in this category.

• 1st Place Apricot Compote Yogurt Parfaits made by Kim North
• 2nd Place Apricot Coconut Almond Squares baked by Brynlee Paradis
• 3rd Place Apricot Herb Focaccia baked by Jo Vanderwolf

A huge thank you to everyone who entered, we appreciate you sharing your time and talent with us. Every single item submitted was purchased and enjoyed by someone!

Thank You to Our Judges

We had three volunteer judges who tasted every entry and scored it on appearance, taste, consistency or texture and creativity. Each entry was numbered so they didn’t know who submitted it. Thank you to Patricia, Roy, and Donna, you did a fantasic job!

Bake Sale Fundraiser

If you don’t bake or don’t wish to enter the baking contest, you are still invited to help us raise money by supporting our bake sale. How?

• Pay what you can at the door, suggested $5.00, and get the chance to win a door prize.
• Donate something to our bake sale, it doesn’t need to contain apricots or saskatoons.
• Buy something from our bake sale and eat the delicious prize-winning entries

Did we mention there will be Fantastic Door Prizes for Guests?! A big huge thank you to our prize sponsors!

Join us as we gather together to celebrate and enjoy a variety of baked goods made with apricots and tsaqwem (saskatoon berries).

Proceeds from this fun fundraiser will go to operations and our restoration fund.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

A huge thank you to the local businesses who sponsored our baking competition by donating prizes.

• Totem Restaurant
• Buy Low Foods
• Country Store
• Lillooet Esso
• Independent Watkins Consultant Melody Thacker
• Mile “0” Pizza
• Spray Creek Ranch
• River Monsters
• Cliff and Gorge Winery
• D’oro Coffee Lounge
• Lillooet Cider Company
• Castle Truevalue Hardware
• Lillooet Brewing Co
• Pharmasave
• Lightfoot Gas Chevron
• Lordco
• Golden Cariboo Honey
• Lost and Found Thrift
• K C Health & Gifts
• Canco #0320
• Fort Berens Estate Winery
• Timbermart
• Rehab Spa
• Rev-it-up

What Is Tsaqwem?

Saskatoon berries are juicy, berrylike fruits that grow on shrubs or small trees. They’re also called serviceberries, prairie berries, juneberries, and shadbush, depending on the region or country where they grow. 

Here in Lillooet saskatoons are called tsaqwem by the St’at’mix people.

The saskatoon berry plant is a a woody, perennial shrub that belongs to the rose family Rosaceae. Its botanical name is Amelanchier alnifolia. The saskatoon shrub gets its name from the word “misâskwatômina,” pronounced as mis-sack-qua-too-mina, from the Canadian Cree Indgenous language. It means “the fruit of the tree with many branches”.

Want to learn more about tsaqwem or purchase a bush for your yard? Check out the information from SplitRock

Why Does Lillooet Have an Apricot Tsaqwem Festival?

The festival began as the Apricot fest and a few years later tsaqwem was added to the celebration. Apricots and tsaqwem grow in abundance in Lillooet and the region. Apricots can be found growing in many yards and along roadways where perhaps the pits were dropped. The Miyazaki House has an orchard of apricot trees. The sidehills around Lillooet and many areas of British Columbia are covered with saskatoon bushes.

Most people are familiar with apricots, with their smooth, velvety orange skin. Apricots are juicy fruit with a delicate, sweet-tart flavor. They can be eaten fresh, either on their own or used in cooking and baking, adding a sweet and tangy flavor to both sweet and savory dishes. Apricots can be made into jams, jellies, sauces, or purees. They are also dried and enjoyed as a snack or in baking.