When your brother in law says, "sis, you make the most fabulous tasting cakes.. but can I have just a plain cake for my birthday. Maybe strawberry with vanilla icing."

I think I have killed my "guinea pig" with all the latest cake experiments!!

Poor man, I guess he doesnt get that plain strawberry and vanilla translates into the following cake terms.. Real strawberry puree and real vanilla bean icing.. LOL

I GUESS I can regress back to basic cake and icing..
I mean it IS his birthday after all.

Some people just have no imagination!! LOL

I just went through this with my husband. I have such a great time creating these cool concoctions and for his birthday what does he want??? Chocolate cake with plain vanilla whipped cream icing. BORING!!!!

I made it for him and he loved it. But its definitely not the type of cake that I'd want to do very often.

well you could counter propose:

Guinness stout cake

Kahlua cake

Beer cake

My husbands favorite is plain vanilla w/vanilla icing--preferably cupcakes. IF he wants cake, then it is vanilla w/Bavarian cream and vanilla frosting. He occaisonally will "tolerate" chocolate frosting.

Kristy

My daughters don't really like cake anymore For the past 18months they've been the tasters, and now they're sooo over it! One daughter only wants a plain sponge with whipped cream and strawberries for her next b'day, no decorations. Which is yum, but lol I'd really like to try some new techniques!

Yesterday, we celebrated all the summer birthdays in our extended family. I baked two big cakes, a Yankees themed cake for the boys, and a makeup bag for the girls (both had fillings, fondant and buttercream). As I was cutting up the leftover cake to give to people to take home, our middle child said to them, "Pleeeeeease take it. I can't eat anymore cake! There's always cake in our house. If it's there, I'll eat it. No more cake."

For my daughter's 15th birthday she BEGGED me for "just a regular cake, mom. From a box. With canned chocolate icing. Just like all my friends get for their birthday. No borders. No decorations. Just a regular cake."

My married daughter AND her husband and kids beg me "Just white cake with white icing in the middle, mom. No raspberry stuff. No dreamsicle flavors. Just plain 'ole white cake with white icing. That's what we like. That's what we want."

But turn it into a positive here folks! It's a good lesson in knowing your audience/client. If we want them to really enjoy our cakes, then we really SHOULD make them the cakes THEY want to eat, rather than the cakes WE want to make!

My hubby doesn't even want a whole cake, just the cake scraps from strawberry or wasc. No chocolate, no icing, just scraps. Heaven forbid that I actually try to decorate a cake for him.