A Carbon County high school student, college student and physician assistant are among those who’ll be entering their baked goods in Pennsylvania Farm Show competitions.

The show runs today through Jan. 13 at the PA Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, 2300 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg.

Morgan Lusch of Andreas will have two entries in the show, one for the Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Contest and one for the Incredible Angel Food Cake Contest.

“For the apple pie, I’m actually putting pecans in it, so it’s not just a normal apple pie,” Lusch explained. “I found when I make the apple pie for different events, everyone talks about how heavy and dense it is - because I put a lot of apples in it. There is no room for air pockets or anything.”

Her angel food cake isn’t standard, either.

“Normally, when I make an angel food cake, I use my grandmother’s recipe. It’s a normal, plain Jane recipe - but it’s amazing,” Lusch said.

For the Farm Show, she will make a lemon blueberry angel food cake. It’ll have lemon zest, lemon juice and fresh blueberries - and for a topping, she’ll make a glaze from the lemon juice.

Lusch, who’s a senior studying mechanical engineering at Penn State - Berks, will drop her entries off today. Kimberly Olving will bring on the chocolate - and some other ingredients - for the Homemade Chocolate Cake Contest.

A Lehighton native who lives in Summit Hill with her husband, Mark, and son, Palmer, 10, plans to recreate the Neapolitan-inspired cake she baked for the 2023 Carbon County Fair.

“When I was thinking of a flavor combination to enter at the fair I was stuck,” Olving recalled. “I personally enjoy chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. My husband loves chocolate cake but prefers a chocolate frosting.”

Olving’s mother suggested that she make vanilla buttercream, so Olving asked Palmer what color she should make the frosting.

Palmer was set on pink - his favorite color.

“After he said that, it clicked and the Neapolitan idea came to mind to do chocolate, vanilla and strawberry buttercream frostings. And since I’m a lover of ice cream, it couldn’t be more fitting,” Olving said.

Olving said she “loves” baking.

“My college degree is in chemistry and I’ve always thought of baking as a kitchen science,” she said. “I enjoy experimenting with different recipes and will bake cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pies, et cetera.”

If she’s off from her job as a physician assistant in the emergency department at St. Luke’s-Miners campus in Coaldale, she usually bakes.

“I guess you could say it has been my life balance. In the emergency room we tend to take care of people at their worst,” Olving said. “At the opposite side of things, baking is usually for special occasions, celebrations and happy events. I love the joy it brings to people and making something that’s part of a special occasion in their lives. I don’t know too many sad people eating cake!”

Savannah Klotz, 18, of Palmerton, is looking forward to the farm show.

She’s entering one of her specialties into the PA Preferred Junior Baking Cookies, Brownies and Bars Contest.

“I’m making Peanut Butter Tandy Cake sugar cookie bars,” she explained.

It’s a recipe she created on her own.

“Honestly, I think they’re better than the Tastykake Kandy Kakes,” Klotz said.

She said she started baking only about a year ago - but she’s hooked.

“I really like cookies. I make a lot of cookies,” she admitted.

When she bakes enough - which is often - she gives them to classmates at the Carbon Career and Technical Institute.

All three qualified for the farm show after winning blue ribbons for their entries in the Carbon County Fair.

The farm show is the largest indoor agricultural expo in the nation, featuring nearly 6,000 animals, 12,000-plus competitive events and exhibits, plus nearly 250 commercial exhibits and hundreds of educational and entertaining events.

According to farm show officials, the state fair showcases the diversity and quality of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry, the innovative people who make it thrive, and the faces of our proud past and promising future.

The show offers visitors a peek into the industry that supports 593,000 Pennsylvania jobs and contributes $132.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy every year.