To despise shop bought cakes

[LadyRenoir]

First world problem alert- not to be treated (too) seriously :)

Ok, so I must admit that I don't mind shop bought cakes in general as such, although prefer to bake at home (especially easy stuff like cheesecakes, which you don't actually need to make most of the time). Just find it hard to find stuff that is actually tasty. I am no Master Baker myself, but I have a repertoire of really nice treats I can actually bake, and at home we never had shop bought stuff, Mum would always bake cakes and torts for birthdays.

PILs never bake anything. Not for the lack of skill, as they both cook well, but for every single occasion a cake or dessert is needed, they buy it. I have not tasted a nice pudding in their house ever- it's either some some of frozen strudle, or an affair involving a very dry sponge and tasteless jam. For bigger occasions, a few times a year they make a trip to Pat Val for a bigger cake.

I offered to bring something for Christmas, MIL politely declined that it is no needed, so we will have another dry thing with crumbling sugary coating. Yay.
I was about to bake one anyways as dont want to go empty handed (and I want to eat a nice dessert for Christmas).

If anyone knows of places selling decent cakes of sorts, maybe I can point MIL in that direction :)

Just take a nice homemade one with you OP! Nothing wrong with that, it's just a gesture! Like other PP's said- I'm not wasting calories on a crap dessert!

The one that I really can't stand and never accept is shop bought donuts. I prefer the ones you get from bakeries and the little independent donut stall in my town.

I don’t like shop cakes either, the sponge is mostly limp and overly sweet.

Why not try something a little different. I’m taking a coconut & lime cake with us this year.

@BackforGood - am I rude? I don't intend to go up to her in person and ask to make/bake something that is nice tasting. I am critical, because the cakes are disgusting and dry and I don't have any pleasure eating them, and refusing would look rude as then MIL gets all flustered why we don't want to eat something. I don't think you would personally queue up to eat them either. And I really appreciate being hosted for Christmas- just think a nice dessert (not necessarily made by me either) would enhance the experience, except of finishing with something no one, sometimes not even PILS, want to eat.

I wouldn't bother trying to point MIL in the right direction, just gratefully accept what she has. But in general YANBU - shop cakes are horrible. Tesco's Finest Ref Velvet Cake is ok though but at £11 it's steep.

My MIL didn't cook to my taste either, dry food was made damp, veg overcooked, this is similar, you just have to suck it up. And ask for a small portion.

@pfwow that is not even possible, as 'small' in their family is like a half of a freaking cake. And MIL and PIL don;t usually want to eat the cake, so we get leftovers :/

See I love to bake cakes and desserts etc, especially at Christmas. But I’m working til 2pm on Christmas Day this year so the meal is OH’s responsibility this year and I want to make it as easy as possible for him. I have therefore bought a Cheesecake Factory box of frozen cheesecake slices in 4 different flavours from Costco. They taste amazing for shop bought, so win win all round 😀

I’d be baking and taking it with me anyway...just suggest to them it’s nice for people to have a choice and you couldn’t possibly attend their lovely dinner empty handed.

I also rate M&S bakes and desserts

am I rude?

Turning up with a pudding when MIL has already said don't is very PA and rude.

Turning up with a pudding when MIL has already said don't is very PA and rude.

This. A clear way to show your MIL and her guests quite how superior your taste and baking is.

I don’t eat many shop bought cakes as they’re not nice enough to be worth the calories, but oh my god, I could eat Krispy Kreme donuts until I want to puke. Laden with sugar and crap (probably) but sex-noises-whilst-eating delicious...

There is a big difference between a cake bought from Demel in Vienna and a frozen strudel taken home from Tesco or a chocolate cake from Sainsbo's FFS

OP I am with you. When we visit MIL, a cake will be produced, in fact many cakes to the point we wonder that she is still slim and not suffering from diabetes. I love a cake as much as the next person and have the figure to prove it but her shop bought offerings will be the cakes to put me off cake, some being so sweet that DH and I have started to turn them down much to our surprise, having previously thought there was no such thing as a cake we didn't like.

YAB a bit U

I've bought some delicious "luxury" chocolate Yule logs over the years (Tesco finest, Sainsbury's taste the difference, etc)

I've also eaten some horribly dry "homemade" cakes.

On the whole, a good homemade cake is obviously better than a bad shop-bought one.

And it sounds as if your in-laws just have bad taste in puddings.

I don't think you should have asked if she wanted you to bring a cake - next time just tell her you're bringing one

It’s a tough one!

I love baking (and I’m pretty good at it) so often have requests come in from family for events/meals we are going to and I generally oblige.

However, this time of year can get overwhelming. 🤔 home baking is time consuming and (if using quality ingredients) also quite expensive but I do agree that it’s ALOT nicer than shop bought!

I also don’t judge anyone who produces an MnS crumble or pie for dessert as I’m grateful they made the effort to feed me. Just because I can bake and I prefer it, doesn’t mean I’ll be rude or judgmental about anyone else’s choices!

@SillySallySingsSongs- so I guess it would be better if I said "Sorry, but this cake is bloody awful, so please don;t cut me a slice" instead?

Just to add, MIL brings her own teabags to ours as she does not like the tea we buy, and she will not eat stuff she does not like, and I was never offended as everyone's tastes are different, why all of a suddenly it is rude for me to dislike disgusting dry cake? Asking as I really don't get offended if someone is not fond of something I make, so surely it should work both way?

You are of course right, however for ONE day you have to suck it up and be polite. It would be rude to take something as you’ve been told not to. Have something nice for when you get home!

@KnightlyMyMan I don't judge PILS. I don;t care where they get their cakes from. I just don't like them. I don't like dry sponge and sugary coating and the middle layer which is made from sugar as well, with no other flavour other than sugar.
There are actually some nice shop bought desserts out there, but not to be enjoyed at PILS, however MIL always insists on us having some, and after 5 years I just can't be bothered trying these.

Totally agree. Not all shop bought cakes are bad - if you have a proper bakery or proper patisserie close by then those cakes are generally very good.

However, if you're talking mass produced supermarket cakes then they are not nearly as good as homemade. Inlaws are like this, they never cook from scratch and wouldn't know decent food if it jumped up and slapped them. They always buy one of those cheap 99p mandarin cheesecakes from Asda and think it's "gorgeous".

It's not. It's cheap shite.