Do you think the person who made this cake is a complete amateur?

[Melloplan]

Just that really. Curious as I got a funny comment.

Not a serious post at all. My feelings won’t be hurt. In full transparency the buttercream did not have time to set. Lunch was earlier than planned so the buttercream wasn’t entirely firm. Still tasted good. Sponges weren’t slipping apart of anything.

Made in an air BnB without piping bags, mixer etc.

I'd say amateur, yes. But it looks delicious and I'd very happily eat it right now!

If you went on a bread baking course & the IL knows that then they just sound foolish.

The middle does look a bit "thrown in" but not in an unappetising way!

Sounds like a complete novice mistake. Plus the buttercream hadn't 'set' you say, and it looks lopsided. I mean, his comment was no doubt meant as a joke, but there is a grain of truth in it...

This looks like a cake I’d have a slice of.
For me it’s vastly preferable to one of those (imo!!!) ghastly looking creations covered in 4 inches of fondled fondant icing that just tastes of ‘sweet’ with no discernible flavours. I hate those things, this looks rustic and homemade and tasty.

Just ignore the stupid comment, at
least you bloody tried! I always make my dc birthday cakes and no one has ever made a cheeky comment (to my face) otherwise they’d be getting crumbs next time 😂

I love baking cakes and made some amazing ones but since moving and having an electric oven they are all very is that your first time baking….

Which is what this cake looks like. We all have good and bad days. I now don’t bake as I just cannot master this bloody oven. Better for my waist I guess.

@BettysRoasties nooo! It's not all electric cookers. Hopefully you will can replace yours one day and normal scrumptiousness will be resumed.

I would but it’s basically a brand new oven 🥲 we barely use it apart from homemade pizzas as it’s such an arse but max temp on pizzas stones it can do 😅

So Christmas dinner and pizza is it’s life.

Everything else is bbq/smoked/air fried/hob cooked.

yorkies in the airfryer tho so fast and lovely.

Doesn't look professional that's for sure,but I bet it tasted lovely. I inevitably find that professionally made cakes are dry and/or tasteless.

Well I think the comment was unnecessary because 1. It sounds like you’ve just started the baking course and 2. it’s a baking course not a decorating course. While presentation is important, the taste and texture is the main thing, so I hope the person who said that ate their words when they ate the cake. I think it’s pretty good for being the first cake you’ve ever done on your own

It looks like a nice cake that will be delicious and baked with love and care.

No offense to professional bakers, but my DH bought me an expensive designer cake for Mother's Day two years ago, and it ended up in the garbage. The bakery got raves from tons of people, but I would take the one you made over it a thousand times over.

I look at a cake like that and think it looks delicious.

I live in a very hot climate and I've never heard of buttercream needing to set. I might pop the cake in the fridge to stop the buttercream from melting, but it should be stiff enough as a result of the beating initially.

The main thing is, was the birthday girl happy? That's all that matters. My guess is, yes.

Does it look professional? No, definitely someone who hasn't made many cakes at all, but if it was made with loves, that's all that matters.

It looks fine for a first attempt.

It does look like a complete novice made it.
i would really stop telling people about your baking course or even that you bake. Because that’s a mess.

Nasty. I hope OP has hidden this thread. Some really gratuitously unpleasant responses.

I don't think that's remotely funny. And it's usually men saying that sort of crap to women.

Looks like a homemade cake. Yes, it looks sloppy but as long as it tasted ok…

This is just what I thought too. The sort of joke people in my family would make (is it a northern thing I wonder?). I can hear my Dad now saying ‘you want to ask for your money back!’.

I'm going to hazard a guess that this male relative has never made a cake like that.

My FIL has made rude comments about my cooking. The two times he has ever cooked for me were 1) incinerated sausages on a barbeque (honestly charcoal by the end) and 2) overcooked bacon sandwiches for MIL's birthday lunch.

It looks fine. I can do lovely cakes, but one thing I ALWAYS do is play to the circumstances - unfamiliar environment and limited equipment if do something v simple. Structural needs a nice solid fudgy cake etc.

It’s a perfectly nice home made cake. I’m sure it was delicious

I am a professional baker and yes it looks like a novice cake. However, that isn’t a bad thing and the cake looks delicious. Yes the filling is a bit wonky but even as a professional with years of experience I would really struggle baking in someone else’s kitchen with limited equipment, lots of people around, helping to make a roast dinner at the same time and having to rush doing it too. I think in those circumstances you did an amazing job! Also as your first cake this is great.
The comment from your relative was rude and unnecessary. However I am confused that you were advised to firm up your buttercream in th fridge. This isn’t normal. I have heard of people doing this in the middle of summer in a hot kitchen etc but not as standard practice. And the little things such as leaving the cake to cool slightly before removing the baking paper are things we all learn along the way and you already know that for next time.

Welk, I'm an amateur, and my celebration cakes look way better than that. However, having said that, if it was made without all your usual kitchen equipment, fair enough, and I bet it tasted gorgeous, which is far more important than the look.

100% this

I'd be happier to eat this than a sickly sweet "professional" cake

Agree. And definitely doesn't need frigeration. Any time I've bought a cake with butter cream icing I have been strictly told NOT to put it in the fridge.

I think the cake looks fine for home made but definitely not professional baker quality or even amateur baker quality just plain home made with love like most could manage. Especially that icing and open sides.. I'd not call it rustic I'd just call it home made 🤷‍♀️

I live in the tropics and there is no A/C in kitchens (why, I don't know), so I do tend to need to use the fridge a bit but agree that you generally shouldn't need to (and I didn't when I lived in North America and Europe).

Agreed also that the cake looks homemade/made by a novice, but that shouldn't actually be used/taken as an insult.

It still beats the time I accidentally made poop emoji cupcakes :)