A really close contest, fought fiercely until the closing stages, between highly qualified and high quality contenders. It swung this way and that with each instalment.
It had all the ingredients of a classic. A picturesque English village scene. Late summer sunshine coupled with the first of the autumn colours on the trees. Technical excellence, competitive action, but also a friendly and jocular spirit.
It would have been nice to have Gemma there too to take part, and Wendy to watch. And of course we missed Mike as an umpire, along with other absent friends.
But truly, the Great Porterish Bake Off 2024 was a fine and fitting way to remember the late Rob Foot and raise a little money for the Leukaemia Fund in his name. Jon’s Victoria Sponge versus James’ brownies and Helen’s scones. A battle for the ages. Your correspondent is a modest man as you know, but he owed it to you dear readers to tell the tale of the day and therefore to try them all.
JP’s sponge? Had he really not bought this from a shop? Lightly baked, delicately iced, generously sliced and deliciously consumed. The all rounder’s all rounder indeed, economics and home economics in equal measure.
James’ brownies? Clearly the work of a young man who can work at speed without compromising quality across any discipline. Sweet without being unbearable, a crust without losing that gooey middle, and the baking accomplished on the same weekend that he ran the Richmond Marathon. Some people are so talented they make you feel sick, even if their brownies don’t.
And Helen’s scones? She’d already tried to bribe us with bacon rolls before play and a second offering of lemon drizzle at tea. But only one bake could go forward to the judges, and it was hard not to be swayed by the high quality clotted cream and jam served with them. But it was the scones themselves that were there to be judged and, although Helen herself felt like she hadn’t quite timed them right, they tasted like they’d come straight out of the middle of the oven to me. Pillowy soft, evenly baked and yes-I-don’t-mind-if-I-do-have-another-one good.
A winner you say? Scores? Don’t be so obtuse. This is the Mandarins. We all know that the taking part (and the consuming of the tea) are far more important than the actual result.
Baking was the winner of course. And a fine celebration of it this was. A showstopper of a day. Helen reckoned it the 21st year we have gathered to remember Rob, with only one of those (last year) rained off. So the 20th anniversary and the fifth time we have marked it with Alton at Bentworth was toasted between the competitors (and the two cricket teams) at the lovely Sun Inn afterwards. We will continue to do so.
*Alas the actual cricket was a little less competitive. The Mandarins bowled serviceably but did not take their catches. Harry was a little unlucky, Rob reluctant to give runs as Paul Hollywood is reluctant to give praise, Matt Conway the most effective with his first two wickets for the club. But otherwise the youthful Alton side took full advantage and tucked in to 200 runs before tea. Perhaps weighed down by all the delicacies as well as all the decades, the Mandarins did not respond quite so aggressively, although an 80+ middle order partnership full of signature strokes between the left handers Wilmot and Brand was artful and accumulative enough to keep the game alive for a while before it faded away like a cake that didn’t rise, eight down, not very near the target. Unlike the Porters’ baking, sometimes the ingredients just don’t react in the way that want them to.
Alton (203/5) beat the Mandarins (148/8) by 55 runs
Dan Forman
No comments:
Post a Comment