Photo: #What are they judging? Click the photo to reveal the answer.
Photo: #ANSWER: DECORATIVE CAKES - The first-place winning entry by Jenni Montoya of Farmington in the "Decorative Cakes" category of baked goods judged this year at the Minnesota State Fair.
Photo: #This cake, by Colleen Herr of St. Paul, took the second place prize in the "Decorative Cake" category of baked goods at the Minnesota State Fair.
Photo: #Cake judge Jeanne Markell takes a core sample of one of the entries in the "Decorative Cake" category of baked goods being judged at the Minnesota State Fair.
Photo: #Judge Jeanne Markell tastes one of the entries in the "Decorative Cake" category of baked goods being judged at the Minnesota State Fair this year. The cake, by Andrea Meister of Blaine, Minn., won the third-place ribbon.

What are they judging?

Day three: What are they judging?


For some, the Minnesota State Fair is all about competition. Every weekday during the fair, All Things Considered is asking: "What are they judging?"

Read or listen to the judge describing what they look for in a winner, and then try and guess what it is. Click on the picture to the right to reveal what they're judging.

What today's judge is looking for:

- Creativity

- Artistry

- Pleasing taste

- Texture should be bouncy and not gummy

- Understandable theme

What are they judging?

(MPR producers Sam Choo and Sarah Boden contributed to this project.)

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