MARGATE – It’s been five years since the Margate Community Farmers Market held a Peach Pie contest. On Thursday, Aug. 7, the pies and cobblers were back in force as local bakers delivered 22 entries to Steve & Cookies By The Bay.
“This is our first contest since COVID,” restaurateur Cookie Till said. “We’re pleased to bring it back after five years.”
Third-year Farmers Market Manager Sinead Friel organized the contest, which in past years allowed winners to advance to a statewide contest.”
“They don’t do the Jersey Fresh contest anymore, but we decided to do it again on our own,” Friel said.
Dozens of spectators stood around a long row of tables admiring the entries, each of them very unique in form, color and height. They waited for an hour watching Till cut five pieces of each entry for the judges to taste. Judges include Karen Sherman, Margeaux Fox, Brent Gambill, Dustin Ewing and Sgt. Jake Rando of the Margate City Police Department. Each was equipped with a fork, plate and a clipboard where they recorded their favorites on a scale of 1-10.
“I’m going to have to do yoga and pilates after tasting 22 pies,” Sherman said.
There were two new categories this time around – Best Crust and Most Unique. Prizes were awarded for each category. First place overall received a $100 gift card bundle, consisting of gift cards for Steve & Cookies, Florida Cold Cuts, No. 7311 Small Batch Bakery and Reed’s Farm; second place received a $60 gift card bundle; third place, $30; and Best Crust and Most Unique received $25 gift cards for 7311 or Reed’s Farm.
Sam Goldberg of Stamford, Connecticut, who summers in Margate with his parents, took first place overall and Best Crust.
“I saw signs all over and kept seeing them, so I decided to enter the contest,” he said. “I like to cook and bake for friends and family.”
Goldberg said he never made a peach pie before he decided to enter, but made four in the last week in an effort to perfect his recipe.
“I have to credit pastry chef and recipe developer Nicola Lamb for her cookbook recipe for the crust,” he said.
For the filling, he purchased peaches at last week’s farmers market from Schober’s Farm of Monroeville, which sets up their canopy along Amherst Avenue.
“I bought the hardest ones they had, and they ripened over the week. I used a combination of cornstarch and flour to make the filling.”
Ironically, Goldberg’s entry number was 23, and was the last pie to be judged.
His secret ingredients were “a little vanilla and cinnamon,” he said.
Juliette Caspi and Hayley Davis of Philadelphia jumped for joy when their name was called for winning the Most Unique category for their submission, “Sea Salt, Caramel, Toasted Hazelnut, Peach Crisp Pie.”
Taylor Lee to second place overall, and Mark Swartz took third place.
The Margate Community Farmers Market held its first Peace Pie Contest since the COVID-19 pandemic Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.
Sam Goldberg's Peach Pie RecipeCopyright Access Network 2025
