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Original poster

Rules for Village Show Victoria Sponge Cake

609 replies

Slubberdegullion · 09/06/2007 21:07

So I am taking the plunge and am going to enter a Victoria Sponge Cake into our local village show.

I'm not pussy-footing around with lemon curd. Oh no, straight into the Blue Riband event.

But I am a little afraid as I know there are rules. And these rules are not written down. If you have to ask, well you shoudn't be entering (well that's what I am sensing).

So I'm going to ask in happy annonymity here.

Size (18 or 20cm)?
Butter or marg?
What type of jam?
Cream filling?
Icing sugar or caster sugar on the top?
Doilly? (Sp?)

Seasoned village show entrants (or judges) your help gladly recieved.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 13:19

jane you must enter. I'm having such fun with my practices. DH thinks I have completely lost the plot.

I know I'm not going to win, but the taking part is hugely entertaining.

There is a weight gain issue going on here which is slightly less amusing I should add.

OP posts:
Grooveisintheheart · 15/06/2007 13:20

i am going to enter next year. i might get deeper tins by then lol

Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 13:28

Oh go on enter this year. we can all laugh at the judges 'comments & critisisms' here together. One big family of VSC novices.

OP posts:
Grooveisintheheart · 15/06/2007 13:30

i have no idea of any comps in this area lol.

i might infringe on pennies terrioty as she is in the closest village to me

yoyo · 15/06/2007 13:37

This thread really cheers me up. I love the pictures. DH thinks I am bomkers to boot him off the PC to look at VSCs. I might have to make one now.

janemw · 15/06/2007 13:40

My DH would love it if I had made as many cakes as you Slub, he is cake mad! Maybe I'll have another try this weekend as it's Father's Day! I shall have to consult my MIL as to show rules here. She'll be really glad about this thread too as we both had the same biscuit type cakes! I entered our show 2 years ago with other foods, but no way was I going to enter cakes. I won with Fudge though!! Keep practising, I think I am going to get the cake making bug now!!

newgirl · 15/06/2007 13:48

so many people trying to look at slubber's cake that the website has crashed!!!

CuttingCod · 15/06/2007 13:49

i ma concerned that she is using hte ouictured pickeld beetroot

Pennies · 15/06/2007 13:50

Just out of curiousity, obviously, but what if, by some possible mischance, one's cake mixture starts to curdle. Not that it's happened here, oh no, but I'm others might find remedies useful.

If, perchance such an awful thing should befall any mixuture of mine I might possibly frantically add flour and beat the farkin mix like a loon whilst wildy hoping and praying that it can be salvaged.

Bolleaux. Said cake is now in t'oven. What can I expect from this sorry effort?

yoyo · 15/06/2007 14:06

Curdling.
Adding a tablespoon of flour before carrying on with adding the eggs usually does the trick.

SlightlyMadScientist · 15/06/2007 14:19

Indeed - apprantely it is natural to get a little bit of curdling. The eggs and the fat are apparently fighting

Pennies · 15/06/2007 14:23

Fighting doesn't begin to describe what they were trying to do. Commemorating 25 years since the Falkands with a full scale re-enactment more like.

Still in the oven (they are taking 40 mins in my aga which I also don't understand as Lucy Young says 20 mins).

These are proving harder than I thought.

honeybrown · 15/06/2007 15:50

Fabulous thread! It has nearly tempted me away from Poultry chat but not quite!

Oenophile · 15/06/2007 15:57

Slubber, your Mk IV would have knocked the socks off my third-place-winner from last year's village show! I'm in awe.

Can you sum up exactly what made Mk IV go so well?

Pennies · 15/06/2007 17:28

After an hour in the oven (!WTF?!?) my Mark II was a resounding failure. It was sweaty, had loads of burst zits that gaped crater-like from the surface. The internal consistency was spongy but not in a good way and the base congealed into something more akin to cookie dough. Oh, and it was tasteless.

Now this cake was a total experiment though. I used Flora Buttery and it's fair to say that I won't go near the stuff again. It was also done in a rushed hour whilst the kids were napping and it's construction was interspersed with toddler demands and also the curdling crisis that also happened. It's fair to say it had a bad start in life and it didn't get to feel the love, only the frustration. Many many things therefore contributed to it's myriad of problems. Basically, it didn't stand a chance.

UCM · 15/06/2007 18:06

They are all looking lovely, there is small prize & a lovely Rosette for the winner.

I am not baking today as I am off out a 'Greek night'. But I am going to have a go at MkII tomorrow.

Keep baking girls. We could all be a stone heavier by Sunday

Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 18:15

Pennies, all I can say is do not dispair. Yesterday was my darkest VSC moment following the disgraceful effort that was the 'pile-o'-shite'.

Today I have an altogether brighter and more optomistic outlook with regards to the future of sponges and me in a happy relationship.

Go back a few posts and listen to Chippys YouTube link. And have some good quality wine. Tomorrow is another day.

OP posts:
Anchovy · 15/06/2007 18:15

My nanny (cake baker extrordinaire) has made a VSC (at my wily suggestion) for DH for father's day. I am going to take a photo for the competition. Presumably I will not be marked down because it has "Dad" in an icing sugar cutout on the top?

Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 18:20

Oenophile I am giddy with childish delight that someone is asking me how I created a nice looking VSC.

Well... I followed the Hugh Freneley Whippetstall technique of weighing the eggs (2) and then reproducing their weight in flour/sugar/butter. It is quite pleasing as it feels moderately 'scientific', and by golly my 2 eggs this morning weighed 5oz (and I would have been adding only 4oz of flour etc if I had gone with the trad. Delia).

There was also a calmer atmosphere as I was not blaspheming at the shitting bacoliners.

And today as I creamed, I listened to Williams' Lark Ascending. Most pleasant.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 18:22

Anchovy, not only have you revealed yourself there as a cheat, but you are destined for the booby prize with dusted words.

OP posts:
Anchovy · 15/06/2007 18:38

Ooooh - not turning this into a SAHM/WOHM matter are we.....

Did I say I was going to pass off the VSC as my own work? No sirree. My nanny would get full credit for the cake (and I would take the credit as being an employer who created an environment in which a perfect VSC could flourish).

I agree the novelty wording could be a bit of an impediment. When she said "Shall I put some wording on the top?", "Yes" seemed a more appropriate response than "Oh, but I wanted to take a photo of it, upload it onto a website, palm it off as my own and put it into a virtual competition against people I've never met and who may or may not actually exist"...

Oenophile · 15/06/2007 18:39

Thanks Slubber! How delightful to imagine your cakes inching bit by bit up the sides of the tin in answer to the summons of The Lark! (though I prefer the Tallis Fantasia myself)

Seriously, that is an awesome looking cake and if it doesn't get a place I'll wonder who lives in your village. After all, Delia probably sneaks her cakes into her local show every year.

francagoestohollywood · 15/06/2007 18:48

what is a "greek night"? (pictures UCM dressed up as Penelope waiting for Ulysses)

Original poster
Slubberdegullion · 15/06/2007 18:48

Anchovy....do you want to get into a scrap...because believe me I'm more than prepared to go outside, fish about in my bins, retrieve sections of the 'pile-o'-shie' and start lobbing them in your direction.

'may or may not exsist' sheeesh

OP posts:
ChippyMinton · 15/06/2007 18:57

slubber are you ready to post yours here? alongside the competition?