Tough choice, one cake wins baking challenge

News Feature

Castine
Originally published in Castine Patriot, February 15, 2018
Tough choice, one cake wins baking challenge

Judges Kelly Sawyer, left, and Nancy Watson review the cakes entered into a Castine Woman’s Club event on Tuesday. See the story on page 2.

Photo by Sharon Bray Order prints of selected PBP photos.

by Sharon Bray

Tuesday noon, intrepid judges viewed, sliced, and tasted four cakes as part of the February 13 lunch meeting of the Castine Woman’s Club.

With five temptations on the table, judge Kelly Sawyer enjoyed a laugh as the slicing knife bounced back out of the most elaborately decorated entry.

“It’s not real!” she exclaimed when the cut ended in the perfect frosting.

Judging and sharing the cakes followed a lasagna lunch prepared by Wilson Museum Director Patty Hutchins and staff. The Woman’s Club established a winter month community lunch tradition several years ago.

At the January luncheon, Hutchins and Castine Historical Society Director Lisa Lutts challenged each other to see who could bake a better cake.

“We saw the cake contest as a way to revitalize the club,” said President Val Taub.

Judges Sawyer and Nancy Watson circled the cake table. Watson listed their criteria for selecting a winner: over-all appearance, flavor, and texture of the cake; plus taste and consistency of icings.

Cake selection was white-yellow layer cakes, a carrot and a coffee cake. They took several tastings of the white frosted cakes, one being a full three layers with lemon curd between layers. Based on cake flavor, they pronounced Lutts’ two-layer cake the winner and gave her a beribboned serving tool as her trophy.

Lunchers enthusiastically sampled all four cakes, eating approximately equal amounts of the two layer cake finalists.

Lutts shared some advice based on her slightly over-cooked coffee cake. “Never enter a baking contest when you are in a new home with a new oven.” She said her new gas oven was not as precise as one she had used previously.

Lutts was recently hired as executive director of the historical society. Hutchins is an area native with many years experience at the Wilson and cooking for community events.

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