2nd place in baking contest is second to none

Taking 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?