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Cooking / Baking Competitions

Vardoger

Vardoger

Make mine a 99
Joined
Jun 3, 2004
Messages
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Location
Valaskjalf (Ex. pat.)
SECOND PRIZE CAKE WAS ONLY ENTRY
Exclusive by Aidan Mcgurran 05/07/2007

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GRANNY Jennifer Brown was thrilled to be awarded second place for her Victoria Sponge in a baking contest... but her joy quickly crumbled.

The 62-year-old who has delighted family and friends with her baking skills for years, was intrigued to find out which cake had beaten her tasty treat to the top spot.

But snooty judges revealed her cake had been the ONLY entry.
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Organisers had spotted her sponge had rack mark indentations from where it had been in the oven - and decided it just wasn't up to the high standards demanded of coveted top place.

But grandmother-of-four Jennifer said she was not browned off and chuckled: "I must admit I have never heard of coming second in a one horse race before.

"But I haven't taken it personally - I had a good laugh about it.

"When a friend of mine told me I had come second I was quite pleased, both for getting a prize and also because I just assumed they must have had more entries.

"I've been baking cakes for years - and they have always been very popular with my family and friends so I am not suffering a crisis of confidence.

"The cake hadn't been judged good enough to win the contest, but it was soon polished off and there were certainly no complaints.

"When I spoke to the organiser she explained that to give first prize the cake had to appear to be perfect."

Jennifer, who had entered the competition organised for her village carnival Wimblington, Cambs, added: "Although I have never heard of anything like this before I certainly didn't take offence.

"I had a good laugh with the organiser about it. It certainly won't put me off baking cakes."

Julie Dent, 44, member of the Wimblington Sports Committee, which ran the competition, explained: "The judges had an expectation and I suppose they didn't feel as though it qualified for first place. This was the first year but the cake competition will become an annual event.

"We weren't disappointed with only having one entry - from little acorns oak trees grow. We are definitely going to promote it for next year."

And she revealed something equally half-baked had happened to her.

"About 11 years ago I entered a show with some fruit scones. I was the only entrant but I came third.

"In your own mind you have got a level where you think first place should be. If you don't think something is worth first place, you don't give it first place."
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Article link
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/camb ... 274044.stm

Woman runner-up in one-horse race

A grandmother won second prize in a cake-baking contest at a fete, only to discover she was the only entrant.
Jenny Brown, 62, entered her Victoria Sponge into the competition and was initially pleased to have come second.

But she was left shocked when a friend revealed to her that she was the only person to take part.

The contest was organised by the Wimblington Sports Committee and judges marked down the cake because it had indentations from the oven rack.

'Judges' expectations'

Ms Brown said: "My friend came over to me at the fete and said I had come second.

"I asked her how many more entries there had been, but she just started laughing and said I was the only one.

"I definitely wasn't annoyed about it."

Although the cake was not deemed fit to win the competition, Ms Brown said it was soon polished off with no complaints.

Julie Dent, from the Wimblington Sports Committee, said: "The judges had an expectation and I suppose they didn't feel as though it qualified for first place.

"This was the first year but the cake competition will become an annual event."

She said her own baking was subject to another strange decision.

"About 11 years ago I entered a show with some fruit scones. I was the only entrant but I came third."
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I think she's better off buying her baking from a shop from now on.
 
ghostdog19 said:
And?
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For some people there's no pleasing.

Does the cake have to be made out of the meat from an E.T. or something?
 
She got second prize evidently because it wasn't a first class cake. Just because there were no other contenders, doesn't automatically mean she's meant to win first prize.

If you have votes and only one person votes 4 out of 5 that doesn't automatically make it 5 votes in favor. Makes perfect sense to me.

So... that out of the way, back to my initial response....


and?
 
Waiter! Sense of humour for table 5 please.
 
Not any more.

Talk about breaking a butterfly on a wheel. :roll:
 
ghostdog19 said:
She got second prize evidently because it wasn't a first class cake. Just because there were no other contenders, doesn't automatically mean she's meant to win first prize.
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Doesn't it? So does that mean that if someone wins a round a golf with a poor score they should be placed second or third rather than first?

One way around this kind of problem is simply to grade the quality of entries rather than to award them first, second and third prizes. This is quite common in local music festivals, for example. Performances might be judged as being outstanding, or merely excellent, or needing improvement, and so on. If all of the entrants perform badly or if all of them perform outstandingly then they can be judged accordingly, without the obligation to select one as the winner.
 
:wtf:

Okay, why do I suddenly feel like I've walked in on a W.I. meeting?

;)
 
I hope you brought some flour with you. We've almost run out.
 
Scotland were robbed!

A vegan food blogger from the Netherlands has won the World Porridge Making Championships.

Miriam Groot, 25, who runs a blog call The Veggie Reporter, beat competitors from around the world. She used pinhead oatmeal, mushrooms and vegan cheese to create Oatmeal Arancini - deep fried balls of risotto, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried in oil.

The annual competition, traditionally held in Carrbridge in the Highlands, has been run online since last year.

Competitors were asked to submit a video of themselves making their favourite oaty dish. They were judged on appearance, execution, originality, flair and virtual taste - reflecting which dishes the judging panel most wanted to try.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58858305
 
ramonmercado said:
Scotland were robbed!

A vegan food blogger from the Netherlands has won the World Porridge Making Championships.

Miriam Groot, 25, who runs a blog call The Veggie Reporter, beat competitors from around the world. She used pinhead oatmeal, mushrooms and vegan cheese to create Oatmeal Arancini - deep fried balls of risotto, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried in oil.

The annual competition, traditionally held in Carrbridge in the Highlands, has been run online since last year.

Competitors were asked to submit a video of themselves making their favourite oaty dish. They were judged on appearance, execution, originality, flair and virtual taste - reflecting which dishes the judging panel most wanted to try.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58858305
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I wouldn't class arancini as porridge, but hey that's just me.
 
Kondoru said:
How can you win a porridge competition by turning your oatmeal into something else?
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“…a main prize of the "Golden Spurtle" trophy and the title "World Porridge Making Champion" for the best traditional porridge made with oatmeal, water and salt.

A prize is also awarded for the best "Speciality" porridge which again is made with oatmeal and contenders can add their own ingredients.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Porridge_Making_Championship

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
“…a main prize of the "Golden Spurtle" trophy and the title "World Porridge Making Champion" for the best traditional porridge made with oatmeal, water and salt.

A prize is also awarded for the best "Speciality" porridge which again is made with oatmeal and contenders can add their own ingredients.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Porridge_Making_Championship

maximus otter
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Surely porridge is a specific thing, not everything made with oats is porridge, cranachan and flapjacks, for example arent porridge.
 
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