Soggy Bottoms

1 - Madeira Cake

It was cake week in the bake-off tent and Alvin Magallanes was feeling nervous about his upcoming performance in the week to come.

"I hope I do enough to impress Mr Hollywood" he thought to himself, already anticipating the deathly glare which so many bakers fear.

He had been anticipating the anxious feeling of being in the tent for quite a while now, but seeing the white rectangle of cloth before him brought around a whole new wave of terror. When the interviewers came to ask him how he has feeling, all he could say was that he was very nervous.

The first challenge was the signature, for which he was going to bake an orange, vanilla and fig Madeira cake to try and impress the judges, but there was still some doubt in his mind. As he was standing at his station, cameras rolling, all he could think of was: "What if the others are better than me? What if my recipe is too extravagant or not extravagant enough?"

Mel announced to the awaiting bakers: "Now, this is your first signature so we're starting you off with a nice, easy Madeira cake. Simple!"

Simple. The word brought a smile to Alvin's wrought face and he began to relax a bit more. Even though the task was not made any easier by her chirpy words of wisdom, Alvin felt like they still did a world of good for him in his worried state. He patiently awaited the countdown towards his first hurdle in the path to baking success.

Ready,
Set,
Bake!

And so, with new energy in his stride, Alvin set out to do his best at the "simple" challenge he had been left with. Although, he couldn't help but notice that the judges were slowly making their way around the stations to talk to the bakers and he tried to ignore the looming danger that was having to talk to the judges.

After a short time of preparing the ingredients and making sure he was ready to go, Alvin began to ready his dough by purging all of his wet ingredients into the mixing bowl, as well as his special fruit. Midway through pounding at his doughy mixture, Alvin was interrupted by the arrival of two sinister judges.

Alvin ceased his frantic work, looked up and saw Paul Hollywood, his celebrity idol and now his guiding mentor and harsh judge for the duration of the event. Alvin noted how much stronger Paul looked in the flesh, rather on all his TV shows which Alvin always fanatically watched. Even though Paul was supposed to be this strict authority figure who should be looked up to and feared of, Alvin felt calmed somewhat by Paul's strong and sensible personality.

Alvin did have a wife and kids, but Paul seemed to bring something else into Alvin's heart; a something that made him feel whole and at peace with himself. It was like a yin and yang, Paul and Alvin, one so calm and collected and the other so worrisome and panicked.

Alvin explained to the judges how his Madeira was going to contain figs and he saw Paul's brow furrow as he scanned over the scene that was taking place on Alvin's desk with the mysterious blue marbles that were his eyes. Alvin watched as Paul bit his lip, seemingly in thought about the possibility of Alvin's strange idea coming into fruition. When Alvin mentioned that his figs were dried and rehydrated to be extra moist, he would have sworn that he saw Paul's eyes glaze over on the final word.

Trying not to dwell on it too much, Alvin steeled himself for whatever difficult question would next require his concentration. "How well do they spread?", Paul enquired; retaining full eye contact as he waited for a response. Not allowing himself to be put off by the blue laser beams pointed his way, Alvin confidently explained that his aim was to have them suspended and that it worked fine at home.

"Never thought of grinding them?" Inquired Paul with a knowledgable smirk. Alvin's heart sunk at the well executed counter argument to his carefully laid plans and wondered how he could have been so stupid. Not letting his feelings show to the big man who he wanted so hard to appease, Alvin decided to tease Paul: "I like them chunky" he said saucily, accidentally letting a bit of a camp tang in his voice show which he never knew he had.

Paul seemed to realise that Alvin was coming on to him and blushed away for a second, before keeping his composure and satisfying Alvin with an somewhat saucy "Fair play" in reply. Alvin received this as Paul's way of saying that he was surprised and shocked at Alvin's actions, but not entirely put off by them. This made Alvin's heart soar with delight in the knowledge that he had a shot with the excitingly enigmatic man that was Paul.

The rest of Alvin's time baking seemed to fly by now and it seemed that in no time at all he had popped his dough in the oven, watched it for a good hour and then prepared it for the judges to come around once more. Soon enough, right on time, Paul and Mary strolled into the tent and began their vulture-like circling of the contestant's creations. Although it went against his typically supportive nature, Alvin felt a rush of relief every time the judges pointed out a flaw in other people's baking and by the time they were halfway though, Alvin felt that he had a definite shot at being seen as one of the better bakers in the bunch.

Paul's heavy footsteps matched the strong beating of Alvin's heart as it was put through a variety of emotions by Paul's dramatic approach. And yet, Alvin felt no fear this time around; only excitement and an expectation of success. Paul looked hopeful and curious as he began to inspect Alvin's succulent loaf on the table.

"Quite the nice crack you have along the top of this Madeira". Alvin blushed with glee at both the compliment and the insinuations of the emphasised word. "No soggy bottom to be seen, despite using figs so moist". Alvin couldn't help but let out a small whimper at the sentence. Paul seemed to be enjoying the reactions he was getting from the small man and so continued to mention Alvin's smooth texture, doughy inside and well-hung figs. Alvin looked from the outside as if he was extremely uncomfortable but inside he was wishing for more.

After a while, Mary seemed to be fed up with the madness that was unfolding between Paul and Alvin and so she had to start wrapping things up. "Alvin, it's a strange twist on the original Madeira, but it is perfectly executed and we couldn't ask for anymore from you, could we?" Paul had to spend a little time trying to wipe the massive grin off his well-sized mug and thusly said his parting statement. "Yes, you did great Alvin. Thank you very much." "Thank you, Sir" Alvin said his goodbyes to the judges and sat back down on his stool with his cheeks still burning red.

Alvin went home that day safe in the knowledge that he was once step closer to completing cake week and, more prominently in his mind, that Paul had shown an interest in poor little nervous Alvin.