The Topsfield Fair will announce the winners of its apple pie contest on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. in Coolidge Hall, according to the fair's event listing. The contest is sponsored by Cider Hill Farm of Amesbury.
The fair's apple cider booth, in the Fruit & Vegetable Building, is listed as running Oct. 2 through Oct. 12. The fair says the booth sells hot or cold apple cider and doughnuts supplied by Brooksby Farm of Peabody. The fairgrounds are at 207 Boston Street in Topsfield.
Yankee magazine published a past winner's recipe in its September/October 2026 issue. Yankee identifies Jannine Fisk of Malden as a repeat entrant in the fair's baking competitions who took the apple pie blue ribbon in 2018. "I had won blue ribbons in all the other contests, but the apple pie category was the elusive blue ribbon I had been waiting to add to my collection," she told the magazine.
Fisk's pie uses Cortland apples, which she told Yankee "hold their shape in the oven, don't turn to mush, and have just enough tartness to balance a spiced filling." She said Macoun or Northern Spy apples also work. According to Yankee, she brushes the inside of the bottom crust with egg wash to prevent sogginess, and the recipe starts the pie at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes before lowering the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sources:
https://www.topsfieldfair.org/event/apple-cider-booth/
https://www.topsfieldfair.org/event/topsfield-fair-apple-pie-contest-winners-announced/
https://newengland.com/food/desserts/topsfield-blue-ribbon-apple-pie/