CENTERVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When it comes to banana pudding, everyone seems to have an opinion.
Some like the classic recipe. Others put their own spin on it. And then there are those who simply don't want to find a layer of soggy cookies waiting at the bottom.
At the National Banana Pudding Festival in Hickman County, competitors had one hour to make their best version of the dessert.
Among them were Jessie Lumpkins, a Sumner County contestant, and Nancy Crosby, who came to Tennessee after winning a banana pudding competition in Georgia.
Nancy said she's spent years working on her recipe.
"Well, I've been tweaking mine and working on it for about four or five years," she said. "I started with just a standard banana pudding."
One thing that helps hers stand out is the homemade sugar cookies. Crosby uses a technique designed to keep them crispy in the pudding rather than letting them turn mushy.
"The goal is to find something that elevates the bananas," she said.
Lumpkins took a different approach, drawing inspiration from something she already knows well: Christmas candy.
"I was here last year with a new recipe, and it was a lot," she said. "And I thought I would go back to, they say write what you know, I wanted to bake what I know, and I know Christmas candy, so I made a banana pudding version."
But competitors said the festival is about more than winning.
"Even if I never compete or never win or whatever, we'll be back," Crosby said.
As for the final results, Jessie finished third. Nancy, who arrived in Tennessee as the winner of Georgia's competition, did it again, taking first place.
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