A PIECE OF CAKE.....
is an expression referring to something that was easy. It was not easy to bake or have my Victoria Sandwich judged and disqualified.I had always vowed that I would not join a Mother's Union or Women's Institute group, branding it for 'old' ladies. However, a dear friend persuaded me and I attended a few WI meetings where I found the talks to be very interesting and not all about Jam or Jerusalem. They put on a mean spread for supper too. So all good so far! The ladies who attend are mostly of a certain age and set into some old fashioned ways but welcoming and obviously proud of all their achievements winning competitions and trophies both locally and regionally for all types of crafts and skills.
So, although not being a competent baker, when the gauntlet was thrown down to bake a Victoria Sandwich, I told myself it was time to be more involved. "It's the taking part that counts," I told myself. As the competition was to win a new trophy in honour of a recently deceased member who I had known for sometime, I 'did it for her' so to speak.
I followed the recipe, torn from a woman's magazine, to the 'T' and took all morning to produce what I thought was a fantastic result. Each layer of the sponge turned out about 2" in depth, well cooked with no 'soggy bottom'. I smeared one sponge with a good lashing of strawberry jam and the other with vanilla flavoured butter cream. Getting them together was tricky but successful so I finished off with a good sprinkling of icing sugar.
Thinking the judge would be phased with a dozen or more cakes that all looked the same I set mine apart by placing some strawberries around the edge of the cake stand and tied a bit of red ribbon around my cake slice. Entry complete.
Before I had time to step away from the table my hopes were dashed. I received the comment that it would be disqualified as it had butter cream in. It was also rejected for having icing sugar on top not caster sugar!
When the winner was announced I clapped and smiled. I was not a happy bunny, 4th place at least would have been good but 'disqualified' made me want to frown, push out my lower lip and sulk. There had been no specification sheet, NO ONE SAID THERE WAS ONE PROPER WAY!
I can laugh at this experience now the last slice is awaiting to be eaten. I was extremely pleased with how it looked. It may be a very long time before I enter anything again, but it sure did taste HEAVENLY.
RIP - Jo
