Prize-winning Fare

So, inspired by Molly, my prize-winning cook of a cousin, I've decided to enter a baked good in the South Plains Fair culinary competition. Molly won second place for her Peach Crisp at the National Cowboy Symposium last week. As long as I can come up with something tastier than typical fair foods like Funnel Cake and Deep-fried Coke, I'll be pleased.

I need suggestions on what to bake. I'm planning on a cake, but which?

The Chocolate Blackout Cake with Coconut Buttercream is a strong candidate. It's pretty. It's complicated, combining dark chocolate, ganache, toffee, and sweet coconut frosting. It has a touch of pepper, so it's definitely got an unexpected kick to it, which might also make it too weird for the judges.

The German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling I baked for Dad's birthday is my favorite cake, taste-wise, that I've ever baked. Chocolate, pecans, and coconut are a wonderful combination. I think it's nice-looking. What do you think of the unfrosted sides?

The Spice Cake with Sea Foam Frosting is one I thought of a bit randomly. The "sea foam frosting," seven-minute frosting made with brown sugar, makes it different than your typical entry. There might be less competition in a non-chocolate category, too.

The only other cake that would do is a recipe of my mom's. It's a pound cake that I love love love. I don't know exactly what the rules are for the pound cake entries, though. I'd probably have to bake it in a loaf pan, which is just wrong.

I would like to choose a cake that can hold up, unrefrigerated, in a display case for a few days, too. These are the things I think on. The floor is open for nominations.