2nd place in baking contest is second to none July 5

Filed under Baking by Nicole | 124 comments

sponge cake with jamTaking home a blue, first-prize ribbon is the ultimate goal of just about everyone who enters a competition, whether it be a sporting event or a culinary one. Second place is nothing to be ashamed of, either, as finishing near the top - regardless of placing - shows that the judges recognized your ability above almost all of the other competitors.

But for one woman in the UK, snagging second place with her Victoria sponge cake in a local competition wasn’t so sweet. Her cake was the only entry and the judges still pinned her with 2nd! According to them, they “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.” Even more bizarre is the fact that this is not the first time this has happened to her. She once was the only entry in a baking contest with a batch of her fruit scones and managed to come in 3rd place!

I’m of the mindset that if you’re the only entry and meet the requirements of the competition, you really should take first place. After all, if there are no other entries for comparison, who can really say that yours wouldn’t have come out on top anyway?



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124 comments

  1. Lurker Jul 5

    I think you misread–one of the people associated with the competition had come in third before, *not* the woman who came in second. (Now back to my regularly scheduled lurking! I love the blog!)

  2. ed markowski1elmarko@comcast.net Jul 5

    nicole,

    great site. am glad i found it.

    enjoy the human interest angle.

    the recipes are great.

    ed in michigan

  3. India Jul 6

    Half of me was lmao - being British, this seems like such a ‘British’ thing to do ;0) But I did wonder if the contestant wasn’t a bit hurt by it - thankfully she seems to have taken it the best way possible, and is laughing about. Wonder where my rock cakes would come….?
    Loving your blog,
    India

  4. sophie Jul 7

    I personally think that this is unethical. Since there’s only one entrant in the competition, that entrant should get first prize, period. It’s like having only one runner in a race. No matter how long he takes to finish it, he’ll be the first one to reach the finish line.

    What are the organizers trying to prove? That they have high standards to maintain? Maybe they should ask themselves why only one person participated.

    Having rack mark indentations on the sponge doesn’t seem like a good reason to deprive the old lady of first prize. Some people may actually feel that the marks give the sponge cake a “homely” touch, which is good.

  5. Miss Charlotte Jul 7

    Been there, got that same prize.
    I was fresh into my cake decorating obsession, when I decided to enter a contest. My theme was a peacock inside either a caramelized cage (think croquembouche) or a royal icing fence. The peacock was to be out of fondant clay.
    How shall I describe it? First the cage idea disappeared, then the peacock turned out to be rather chicken-like.
    But I was the only one in the category, and I received a 2nd place. I was disappointed at first, but I can understand that some people are so serious about their “judging” that they must stand up for their art. Regardless of the fact that the “art” was a local group of amateurs tucked away in a tiny hotel meeting room.

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