Victoria Sponge Cake competition

[UCM]

Who wants to enter here please. This will be fab. Now we have to find some judges. I think we should put thread in chat and ask someone to judge based on their credentials Obviously they will be only looking at a pic not tasting. We need rules as well??? Good idea or not.

i'm in. So, will we be posting pics on something like picturerail or will we just use our profiles?

May I suggest that we stick to Slubber's rules - plain and simple and in the true tradition of village fete restrictions!

que?

I own the name MrsCake so I suppsoe I could judge in that alter ego if you like

i'm in!

Oooo Trig that would be nice of you, thanks. Yes slubs rules would be brilliant.

I googled for a VS competition recipe and here is one from the Dartford Festival (perhaps not quite country village, though):
VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE
(Recipe taken from the GOOD HOUSEKEEPING Cookery book)
100g (4oz) Butter or margarine 2 x 7 inch (18cm) sandwich tins
100g (4oz) Caster sugar Gas 5
2 Eggs beaten Electric 190C
100g (4oz) Self-raising flour Electric 375F
30ml (2 tbsps) Jam
Caster sugar to dredge

1. Grease two 18cm (7 inch) sandwich tins and line the base of each with a round of greased greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the fat and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the egg a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Fold in half the flour, using a metal spoon, then fold in the rest.
5. Place half the mixture in each tin and level it with a knife.
6. Bake both cakes on the same shelf of the oven at 190C/375F/Gas 5 for about 20 minutes, or until they are well risen, golden, firm to the touch and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tins.
7. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.
8. When the cakes are cool, sandwich them together with jam and sprinkle the top with caster sugar.

And the Frome Cheese show has three types of cake that must follow specific recipes (if you get bored with VR):
CLASS 85 Carrot Cake Made to following recipe: 4oz grated carrot, 4oz Marg, 4oz Brown Sugar, 6oz SR wholemeal flour, 2oz sultanas, ½ tea spoon grated nutmeg, grated rind & juice of an Orange, 2 eggs. Topping: 4oz Full Fat Cream Cheese, 6oz sifted Icing Sugar, grated rind of small Lemon.
CLASS 86 Fruit Cake Made to the following recipe: 1lb Sultanas, 4ozs Chopped Dried Apricots, 12ozs Boiling Water, 6ozs Marg, 8ozs Light Brown Sugar, 3 beaten Eggs, 12ozs Plain Flour, 2tsp Baking Powder & 2tsp Mixed Spice.
Place all fruit in bowl and cover with the boiling water leave overnight. Melt the marg add to fruit with sugar and eggs, add the flour baking powder & mixed spice. Cook in 8?(20cm) lined tin, 150degrees for 1 ¾- 2 hours.
CLASS 87 Victoria Sandwich. Made to the following recipe: 3 eggs 6oz marg, 6oz sugar, 6oz SR flour with a Raspberry Jam filling (Pair of 7? Tins)

I'm in ! (tis wabbit BTW)

i'm in (i think...)

I am obviously so in.

Love it UCM

The judges will have to make a decision on the recipe.

lilymaid, the Dartford is the 4/4/4/2 combo, whereas the Frome is the classic 6/6/6 & 3 eggs (renamed the devils proportions). I will obviously adhere to whatever the MN judges decide.

Doily? Icing sugar? Cake stand?

Raspberry or strawberry, and how will you tell if it's homemade or not?!

4/4/4 is the traditional (austerity measures)version for shows whereas 6/6/6 might be considered rather townie/only been here for 20 years (as well as the sign of the devil). I think raspberry jam is the preferred tradition as it doesn't have the lumps that there are in strawberry. There can be so many pitfalls if you don't read the rules correctly.
If it is a village show you would of course have grown your own raspberries to make your own jam.

Doyley Queen of Sponge.

So sayeth Mr Sainsbury's.

I'm up for a Doyley, if you don't use them, you loose them you know. Can't imagine a Britain without doyleys myself.

I'm in
I vote for the devil's proportions

I am namechanging only for this thread (getting into the MN show competition spirit).

The 6/6/6er is a fine cake to be sure.

Doyley? what, like Arthur Conan Doyley?!

Defo "doily"

We could ask our DHs / DPs to taste test - if any are like mine then they are sometimes brutally honest when it comes to cooking (we are not allowed to mention Pavlova in this house after some particularly harsh criticism).

Have followed both this and slubber's other thread with glee all day...whilst working incredibly hard at work to deserve my salary, of course...and I have a question just as an ignorant bystander, not as a baker.

How come there is a standard recipe for a competition cake? Surely everyobdy has their own slight variations, and that's what makes the cakes different, and makes the best cake stand out from the rest. I can see that type of icing, etc, has to be standardised or there would be too much variation, but if everyone follows exactly the same recipe, what are you competing about? The strength of your beating arm? The reliability of your oven? Your ability to follow instructions?

Something to ponder on....

Competing on all of those things i think, MrsB. It comes down to 'lightness of touch' in keeping the air in the mix, and attention to detail eg no wire rack marks.

Are we taking this too seriously? Who would like to join the WI in real life?

I'm in too! I was going to start this thread after my suggestion on the 'other' VSC thread - so glad you beat me to it UCM!

so what recipie are we using?

I think we're on devil's proportions.

misdee. Hmmm we're not to far away from each other are we? I'll be watching out for you at various local village fetes (no idea wht you look like BTW) but if I see anyone taking an overly keen interest in cake stalls and even trying to purchase a 1st prize winner I shall out you. Oh yes.

i am using on the things, give me exact measurements 6/6/6 of what.

does your village have a village day pennies

we've got two this year I think. Not sure if they have VSC comps tho.

ooo will have to check them out.

aschool fete is this weekend, migth attempt one for 'testing' for the cake selling stand there.