Judges Lauren Infante and Janet Tsiknias taste one of the 15 entries in the peach dessert contest held Friday. A former Vermont innkeeper used peaches and pecans to create the winning entry Friday in the annual South Carolina Peach Festival Dessert Contest.

Tricia Pedersen took home the first place $250 cash prize for her "Peach Pecan Delight" concoction in the peach dessert contest sponsored by Abbott Farms. The event was held Friday morning on the front porch of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce office in downtown Gaffney.

Pedersen, a California native, operated the Red Clover Inn in Vermont for three years before moving with her husband to Gaffney in 2002.

Pedersen now tries out new recipes on her family and church members visiting the refreshment table before Sunday School at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. She was thrilled about winning this year's peach dessert contest.

"I like cooking and putting together new desserts. I practice on Sundays sometimes when I provide refreshments for the congregation members at St. Paul's Lutheran Church," Pedersen said. "It's different working with peaches because the fruit has its own special flavor. The peaches are just wonderful in Cherokee County. It's hard to find fresh peaches which taste as good in other parts of the country."

Peaches were a necessary ingredient in all contest entries. There were 15 submissions in this year's dessert contest, compared to 10 entries for the 2008 event.

Hope Gault won the $100 second-place award for her dessert called "Just Peachy, Upside Down Cake." Tracy Will won third place and $50 for her entry, "Topsy Turvy Bread Pudding." Plaques were awarded to all three.

The desserts were judged by Upstate Carolina Medical Center director of food and nutrition Lauren Infante and Aegean Pizza coowner Janet Tsiknias and her daughter, Vanna. Last year's winner, Diane Sprouse, was an honorary judge.

Abbott Farms dessert contest organizer Brooke Hilliard Abbott was pleased with the turnout for the event.

"We were really glad to see people come to Gaffney and support the event after all the things which have happened in the community in the past week. The quality of the desserts was outstanding this year," Abbott said. "The peach crop is great. The month of July is the peak of the peach season. We are very thankful to all the people who participated in the dessert contest."