Legendary baker Eileen Gannon (’86, ’91) feels a special connection to the Iowa State Fair.
“It’s the spirit of fairs that I love,” says the Mingo native. “When you live in a rural area, there isn’t a lot of entertainment. So, it was really special for a rural kid to go to the fair.”
Being from a farm, Gannon gravitated toward showing her family’s cattle instead of cakes and pies. But her interest in baking was always simmering and she first entered her baking at the fair when she was 12.
“The kitchen was a place where I could be productive,” recalls Gannon, the youngest of 14 children. “I loved being near my mother, Helen, and she was always in the kitchen."
After graduating from Iowa State, Gannon built a successful career in nonprofit communications and then corporate communications and finance. She also found her way back to baking at the state fair, racking up 600+ ribbons at a fantastic rate. In 2021, she launched her own business, Sunday Night Foods, using recipes she had honed for decades. Four years later, Sunday Night is an award-winning company with premium dessert sauces in more than 3,000 stores.
Eyes On The Pies
“If you’ve ever won a blue ribbon at a state fair, we want to talk to you.”
It was a casting call for Netflix’s “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship,” a competition to air in 2024 with a cash prize and bragging rights any blue-ribbon winner would covet. Gannon had competitively baked on TV before, but this new experience would be truly grueling. Four weeks baking in kitchens she didn’t know under a tight timeline.
“You go in knowing that your vulnerabilities will be displayed on camera,” Gannon says. “If you cut yourself, if you break bowls, if you cry, it’s all out there.”
Gannon made it to the finale before placing third overall of 10 contestants, winning challenges throughout for historied recipes such as her Grandmother McGreevy’s 133-year-old blueberry pie.
“I was proud to represent the Iowa State Fair,” she says. “The best bakers I’ve ever competed against were at the Iowa State Fair.”
Sunday Night
Gannon has sworn off TV competitions for the present. She wants to focus on growing Sunday Night Foods, where she’s launched a new line of caramel sauce and has ideas for more products. She also wants to savor moments with her family. Sunday nights are a sacred time, like the nights of her childhood spent with her mother, whose tradition of sundaes on Sunday nights inspired the company name.
As a professional baker, Gannon can no longer enter the Iowa State Fair, but that won’t stop her from enjoying it — just like any farm kid would.
“I grew up showing cattle at the fair, so I still see the fair through the lens of a competitor,” she says. “Many people, especially livestock competitors, have worked all summer to prepare their entries in the fair. I see their love and pride and sense of accomplishment that can’t be found anywhere else.”
A Slice of Advice
“Don’t rely on social media influencers, who probably don’t know any more than you do,” Gannon says. “For aspiring bakers, buy cookbooks written by pastry chefs.”
Gannon’s top three books:
• “Bouchon Bakery” by Thomas Keller
• “Bakewise” by Shirley Corriher
• “The Cake Bible” by Rose Levy Beranbaum