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Donaldson named apple recipe grand prize winner

Keira Donaldson was named the grand prize winner of the Apple Recipe Contest during Friday’s kickoff of the N.C. Apple Festival. Donaldson’s Apple Masquerade also took first place in the competition’s desserts category. [photo courtesy of Lia Beddingfield Chapman]

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 5, 2026

Judges named Keira Donaldson the Grand Prize winner of the 2026 Apple Recipe Contest on Friday as the first day of the North Carolina Apple Festival kicked off.

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Donaldson’s Apple Masquerade also took first place in the desserts category of the annual competition, which is sponsored by Henderson County’s Cooperative Extension Office.
The apple recipe contest calls on cooks, bakers, chefs and what organizers describe as “inquisitive culinary producers” to put their apple recipes to the test during the festival’s competition each year.
Among other rules, the competition requires that all recipes contain at least two cups of apples or one cup of applesauce and be homemade.
The contest was held at the cooperative extension office on Friday. Winners were announced at the festival’s main stage at the Historic Courthouse on Main Street shortly after the opening ceremony on Friday.
In addition to the grand prize winner, judges named first, second and third place winners across three categories including desserts, pies and pastries, bread and a kid’s competition.

In addition to Donaldson, winners were:

  • Desserts: Lindsay Swope, second place , Apple Spice Pastry Torte. Karl Wolfe, third place, Apple Cranberry Crisp Bars.
  • Bread: Marlene Merrell, first place, Apple Zucchini Muffins with a Crumble Ready to Rumble; Kathy Y. Ham, second place, Tropical Apple Bread with Orange Glaze; Shelby Scattergood, third place,  Apple Fritter Focaccia.
  • Pies and Pastries: Scattergood, first place, Portuguese Egg Tart Apple Pie “Pastéis de Nata”; Merrell, second place, Smoky Mountains Apple Bear Claws; Tracey Trapp, third place, Apple Pie Crumb Buns.
  • Kids category: Zella McCall, first place, Apple Strudel Cheesecake; Paisley-Anne Gordon, second place, Apple Dapple Cake; Jameson Linkous, third place, Mom's Special Apple Cake.