To think there is a RIGHT way to cut a cake

[Zucker]

My MIL had us all over to her house for FIL's birthday. 10 of us in total. A beautiful circular chocolate fudge topped cake was produced, the kind that's all smooth and silky on top. Almost a shame to cut into it. Almost.

Now in my world this cake would be cut in half and 10 equal (triangular?) pieces would be cut and everyone would be happy with their lot.

MIL produced a knife and did a hack and scrape onto a plate motion, for each person. We all got what looked like leftovers and a sad lump of cake was left on the table. Don't even get me started on the heating of the ice cream in the microwave before it could be served.

Clearly MIL was wrong and shouldn't be left in charge of cake in the future. AIBU?

Why the hell did I not buy cake today? I don't have enough swearwords to cover this. I'm going to resort to shouting capercaillie out in the garden, at the top of my lungs. That could be moderately satisfying.

Surely microwaving ice cream will lead to the shits stomach upsets.

Repeatedly heating and refreezing a cream based product.

Yuk.

Also. I now want cake. And don't have any. I am grumpy tired and fucking hormonal and I daren't ask dh because i sent him out on a chocolate mission at 11pm last night (very rural area, no late night petrol stations here) and he had to drive bloody miles. And he did get some. Lobbed it into the room and hid till I'd eaten it bless him. Did I mention I am grumpy and hormonal.

tilly

That might just work

I recently witnessed someone cutting a round cake into horizontal slices . Made no sense the inner slice was massive and the outer slices small. Who does that?

I'm disgusted with the lot of you. I'd cut the cake in half, divide the half into 10 slices, then scoff the rest myself

I thought that it was usual to just cut slices iyswim-not try to divvy up the whole cake.

Buy her a loaf tin to bake her cakes in!

This thread just highlights the amount of masterminds on Mumsnet I've taken notes on your techniques. While I was gone I bought a rocky road tray, not quite cake. But it's rectangular! One big giant slice for me then.

The original cake was about 8" across if even that, came from Marks or Tesco. For the detail oriented obsessed with cake

Completely agree with the ice cream not going with cake. I may have to take to carrying chilled cream with me at all times for such emergencies.

The cake portioner is genius, everyone I know will be getting one for Christmas.

Has anyone noticed the list of ingredients on the 10 slice cake linked to by zucker! Nothing would persuade me to eat that, however neatly sliced...

But OP YANBU, obviously...

I still don't understand how she managed to mash the whole cake. I once brought a large, round and rather beautiful cake into work. The first person to get to it cut the whole thing up into squares (with weird shaped bits at the edges with too much icing and cake crumbs everywhere). That meant that no one else could see the beauty of my creation. I don't think I've forgiven her.

Yes, Lomaamina, I noticed that too. Takes a lot to put me off cake but an ingredients list like that would go along way in doing so for me.

I always cut a round cake into half, then quarters, then eighths. I'm going to try the two circle idea next time I bake a big one though.

Square cake is cut into strips, then turned and cut again to make little squares.

gamer I do that

Oh, I don't think cutting in half then accurately subdividing seems right at all. A good cake is clearly not the sum or its parts, it is mystically more, so should not be treated mathematically! That way it ends up looking like a supermarket cake. Cut and serve a slice at a time, with a nice knife, and don't worry too much about perfect exactness of slices - yearning for more cake than you've been given is all part of it.
But yanbu - your mil messing up the slices is definitely wrong