Are we so stupid to need this instruction?

[bilbodog]

Apart from the fact i am not going to go out and buy a good quality, serrated knife, if i dont already have one just for a cake and i am not going to clean the knife between each slice!!

I don't think it's stupid. It makes sense if you want neatly cut slices.

Some people whack through them with a carving knife then complain it's all squished.

On your own head be it then

If you've spent loads of money on a fancy iced cake people probably feel quite upset if the stressing is ruined by the cake being cut. It's not that obvious what is the best way to cut it to preserve the icing.

Argh I thought I had caught all the typos

Not you personally, but as someone who has worked with the general public - yes, yes you are that stupid. You won't believe what incredibly obvious things the general public can fail to work out for themselves.

I believe what has happened here is that people have bought this fancy cake and want to take photographs to put on Instagram or other social media. They don't wipe the knife between slices, so their slices get slightly smeared. They ring the cake maker/seller in high dudgeon and complain, because their slices don't look good for the 'gram like "the one on the website did". The cake maker/seller has experienced this often enough that they have decided to include this printed instruction.

That would be my guess.

What a time to be alive eh.

You need to wipe the cake off the blade between slices or you don' t get a clean cut!!!

Is it stupid to not know something?
Or is it a case that you just haven't been taught?

Also not every culture has iced cakes and might assume that you keep them in the fridge.

It reminds me of the 70's film Walkabout. Where two British children in Australia, were lost in the outback. They'd been brought up to see the Aborigines as thick savages. Thanks to an Aborigine Boy they survive, but he finds it funny that they don't even know how to tap for water, or navigate etc.

Are you offended? See, if you need the instructions then they are helpful. If you don't then you can just ignore them. It's not a big deal.

Ribena bottles have, or certainly used to have, an instruction telling people not to put their finger in to the top of the bottle, so yes, the assumption has to be that everyone is a dumb as a box of rocks.

Just bear in mind OP, businesses have to cater to the lowest common denominator, so what seems like "no shit Sherlock" to you is actually a revelation to others.

Never overestimate the ignorance of the general public.

Never overestimate the ignorance of the general public.

^ This. A colleague and I were talking about a nature programme we had seen when another colleague pipped in with 'Why don't penguins fly to the nest instead of walking all that way when they have been to get fish?' and 'Is the fish too heavy?' when we explained that they couldn't fly.

But icing isn't supposed to be stored in airtight containers? Unless you want it to go soggy and manky.

Lots of people will have never sliced an iced cake, and might be disappointed with the look of the slices if they go at it with a butter knife. They're not bad tips, assuming they've come with a lovely Betty's cake that cost a lot of money.

On the subject of penguins, a colleague told us how strange he finds it that a penguin has a beak, fur and a pouch

That’s from Betty’s. I did a baking workshop there once and they told us about serrated knives for cake then- they just take it very seriously!

You're meant to wipe clean after each slice? Well fuck me, nae wonder my cake slices are fucked not my cheap shit useless knivess

*Never overestimate the ignorance of the general public.

^ This. A colleague and I were talking about a nature programme we had seen when another colleague pipped in with 'Why don't penguins fly to the nest instead of walking all that way when they have been to get fish?' and 'Is the fish too heavy?' when we explained that they couldn't fly.*

You've just reminded me of my two (yes, really, two) colleagues who didn't know that dolphins were air breathing mammals.

'But aren't they just, like, really clever fish?'

Bold fail there, obviously.

Ha 😂 My cake cutting always consists of hacking it with whatever knife I deem suitable (well, whichever is clean in the knife drawer... 😬)

I can categorically state that I have never, ever wiped a knife blade in between slicing cake slices of the same cake.

(I may have sliced cheese and used the same knife to slice cake and wiped. Maybe
But this thread isn't about that... )

Darn! I only have a poor quality, blunt knife...

OK - hadnt realised how many people would take this so seriously and that there really are people out there who wipe their knife in between slices!!!

I’ll get back in my box and carry on slicing cake with whatever knife comes to hand and actually not care if the slices are all crumbly and not perfect 🤪🤪🤪

Merry christmas everyone.

It's not unreasonable to want neat slices, particularly if you're serving the cake for a special event. Likewise if it doesn't matter to you then that's fine too, I'll take cake in any form, but it doesn't make you superior to anyone who does care.

Cut it with a spoon if you like. You do you, hun.