The Cupcake Competition

It was the Sass’s school fair today. It was a slick affair when George started 12 years ago, and has now escalated into an operation a sophisticated military unit would be proud of. I’m completely in awe – and clearly completely uninvolved. (Actually that’s not quite true; I did donate all the citrus fruit from our garden to make marmalade. Mostly because for the first time in years, I could not be fagged making it myself and frankly, I was quite relieved!)

The cupcake competition was launched with fanfare weeks ago with a notice home,  the details and a form to enter. It was to be judged by the celebrated Matt Preston of Master Chef and restricted to students of the school. (I’m sure he’s in huge demand, so I do find his tireless involvement for our local school generous. And no, despite him being a spokesperson for one of my client’s products, I don’t actually know him.) Once entered, this week we received a small cake box to decorate and construct, a recipe for 12 cupcakes, several silver foil patty-pans, extra bags and plates and boxes and tags and cellophane bags for the ‘spares’ to go to the cake stall. Amazing!

Elle and I had a bit of a brainstorm and in truth, after I had cooked the cakes, Elle did a lot of the decorating with Sass’s help. She had sea blue icing, raw sugar sand, a chuppa chup beach ball, marshmallow and lifesaver bucket, deconstructed liquorice allsorts for a towel and a cocktail umbrella. I thought it looked pretty good. So I was gob-smacked when Sass and I dropped it off to see the caliber of the other Prep offerings. Seriously, they were NOT done by children!!! It was like the product of a Cake Boss episode. There were expertly moulded mermaids, elaborate piping, and complex arrangements of flowers. It was truly laughable. Sass’s looked positively naïve by comparison.

I was reminded of JB (who was Deputy Important there before retirement) who often lamented she really needed to set a project for the kids AND one for the mothers!!

So it was and wasn’t surprising when Sass took out second prize for her cupcake. It clearly wasn’t the most amazing cupcake there – far from it – but it was plausible that a child had been involved.

And to top off a winning day, check out the fish George caught on his outing with JCAAA (Joint Councils Access for All Abilities) fishing trip! The biggest of the day – around 5kgs – that’s my runners in the photo to give you a perspective. It’s in the oven now…..