to think that home made is supposed to taste best?

[DrSeuss]

Not really an AIBU just something that made me think.
I saw my colleague who won the Christmas cake I made in the charity raffle just before we broke up for the holidays. She told me how much they all enjoyed the cake and then said that her family "couldn't believe a homemade cake could be so nice, they all thought it was shop bought."
Very flattering and all but shouldn't it be the other way round? I expect homemade to be nicer than shop bought. When did expectations flip round so that it was better if from a supermarket?

I don't think they have. I have never heard anyone suggest that, certainly not for cakes.

It depends how good the cooks are in her family really. My Grandma's homemade cakes are always better than shop bought, my home made cakes in the other hand are a torture to be ensured and shop bought ones are way better!

Yes home made tastes better unless someone is a bad cook!

Especially cake, it truly does taste a million times better when home baked I always find but then I am Imo anyway a pretty good baker

I can't think of any bought cake that would taste anything like as nice as a decent home made cake. However, I have noticed over the last few years that any home made cakes or buns I have bought from cake sales/stalls have been pretty poor (apart from mine of course!), so there must be some bad bakers out there.

Homemade wins every time.

I’ve had that said before as well and found it equally odd

It depends on the quality of home-made they're used to. I'd have to be very lucky if any cake I made was better than a bought one - on the rare occasions I attempt them, mine are usually either too soggy or too dry. I am much better at savoury cooking than baking. Maybe your colleague is similarly cake-challenged!

Maybe she meant it was super neat?

Home made is usually better but shop bought ones can be tidier. Maybe that's what she meant

I think M&S do a nicer cake than I can but I wouldn't necessarily say the same about Sainsbury's or Tesco.

I am a bad cook.
I can't make anything home made taste as good as shop bought.
Especially cake.

(But also Bolognese, curry, potato wedges macaroni cheese, lasagne etc etc)

My icing was certainly not super neat! and she specified the taste.
However, you'd surely be doing well to foul up a fruit cake?

Supermarket or cake shop though? There’s a world of difference.

I prefer shop bought fruit cake.

Homemade is fine, but shop bought tastes richer and gooey-er - haven't had a homemade one better than an M+S Rich Christmas slice.

Well you've not had mine then. Hic.

Homemade, unless they use margarine.

In laws are like this about cakes and brainwash younger members of family into believeing there is something superior about homemade.
Otherpeople i know pay huge amounts for a "proper" cake from a shop.
Me - i just like cake!

However, you'd surely be doing well to foul up a fruit cake?

Unless you were too vain to wear your glasses and "read" coriander instead of cinnamon...

However, you'd surely be doing well to foul up a fruit cake?

MIL always says she left out the cherries and the mixed peel because it is only "beyond" that likes them ...

AND IT IS ONLY BEYOND THAT WILL EAT THE FLIPPING FRUITCAKE ANYHOW - SO ....LEAVE... THEM... IN!!!!

My MIL makes a minging fruit cake, and my mums were pretty dry. Mine otoh involve lots of really moist fruit and are things of beauty

Do amateur bakers who sell kids birthday cakes count as home made? There's a fair few who are fantastic at decoration but terrible at the actual cakes.

I still can't get over people paying £50 upwards for dry cake with some kind of wierd artificial buttercream icing no matter how pretty the outside is.

I have started making my own Christmas cake for the last few years. I had a piece of a family member's this year, and was amazed that their ratio of cake to marzipan/icing was so vastly different to mine. Theirs was roughly half/half.
Mine was a large cake with a slightly thin layer of marzipan and icing.

It just meant that their cake tasted lovely but (imo) was drowned out by about 2inches of sugar. I used to hate Christmas cake and only eat the icing and marzipan but that was too much for me.

I liked my cake but I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't have. DM said it was quite rich...but I enjoyed it.

I tried some shop bought cake slices too and they were nice but quite.... commercial... does that make sense? It was too perfect and the cake was flavourful but just had no soul! Mass produced maybe I mean...

I was going to agree there's a huge difference between cake shop and supermarket, if it was meant as a compliment they either mean a) it was as good as a cake shop or b) they don't eat nice cake very often

It was Delia's recipe with double the spices and treble the brandy, same as always, with around 5mm marzipan and the same of fondant. Two inches of marzipan/fondant/royal icing sounds way too much!

My gran made a nice fruitcake, and I've never had a better chocolate fudge cake than my mum's. Had the fudge cake for my birthday last year and it was as amazing as I remembered. Good homemade is better than most shop bought cakes.

I am a fairly average cook. I get by. But I do have one thing that I make really well. It tastes way better than most restaurants make it. And the shop bought variety is always rubbish. I usually take this item if visiting friends and have been told in very surprised tones that its much better than the shop bought one.

Its not cake though. I am a lousy baker.