Hello, Lucy, dear!

How lovely your buns looked! I am so impressed with the uniform nature of the piping - what sort of a bag and nozzle combination do you use? I'm yet to purchase a piping bag, I don't know why icing isn't a big favourite in our family, but I do think it adds a touch of glamour to an otherwise ordinary offering.
So good of you to let me know the competition guidelines for Victoria Sponges. Thanks to your information, plans have moved on apace: I have organised judges, emailed everyone at work and chosen the charity that our funds will help; so far 8 responses! I am very excited, but now feel the need to practise my sponges so that I can feel a little confident of doing a good job. I have to say that I am most concerned about losing marks because of my 'rustic' presentation; I want to be assured of a flat top but don't want to over-cook it by having it in too low an oven for too long. The last VSC I baked looked fabulous, but was a tad on the dry side - just what I want to avoid. Previously, they have been beautifully moist but with a peaked top due, according to Mary Berry, to one's oven being too high... I've got over a week to perfect my technique and will post pictures of my efforts in the meantime. We shall all be using Mary's recipe, from "Simple Cakes", to create a level playing field; I know that there are some who'd like to take a gamble with butter icing, so I may benefit from their hung-ho attitude, but I would so love to play by the rules and WIN! I shall pop out and buy some eggs later and practise. I can't believe that I've never entered a competition of this sort before...
As I sit and write, it seems incomprehensible that it will be June in a matter of days: the rain is quite persistent and the central heating is back on. Thankfully, earlier on, I managed to find a gap in the precipitance in which to walk the dog. Cats are SO much easier in that respect, but I bet nobody got firm thighs from walking a cat across the fields and hills! How are your doggy plans going, incidentally?

I'll write again, soon; in the meantime: ta-ta!

Cathy x

Competition Guidelines

Dear Cathy

I am SO sorry! Would you believe that I wrote to you weeks ago and forgot to post!

Since then I have been baking for Brownies again. You may remember that every now and then we have to bake 48 cakes for the little darlings to gorge themselves on at the end of a meeting. To keep things simple this time I decided to make all my cakes the same, and didn't they look pretty!

I dug out my copy of 'On With The Show' the W.I. Handbook for Exhibitors, Judges and Show Committees. Herewith, some pointers for you:

Cakes - General
Schedule should specify type of cake and may specify a recipe or tin size.
Unless otherwise stated, cakes should be presented on a plate with a sweet doiley

Victoria Sandwich
Filling: Raspberry Jam - sufficient and evenly spread
Topping: Light sprinkling of caster sugar

Points to Consider when Judging
No cooling rack marks
Pale golden brown colour, evenly baked
Flat top, no air bubbles or crumbly edges
Both halves same depth
Fine even texture
Delicate flavour

The book also states that the lining paper should be removed from the cake - what good advice!

Hello, dear!

Yorkshire calling, come in Lucy!

My dear, Lucy it's been so long since I wrote and no reply; I do hope that all is well, dear, and that you've not been stricken by some nasty illness caused by scavenging the lanes of Shropshire for foodstuffs. I only ask this as I saw an old Hairy Bikers edition on TV last week and they interviewed some people who did just that and it reminded me of your whinberrying and I began to worry.
I'm still waiting for your advice about the rules of Victoria Sponge-making. Do let me know what you advise, dear, or I fear there may be an element of the 'bun-fight' in my charity cake-baking foray.

Much love,

Cathy x