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The man was excited to taste his late wife's cake again, but his kids blew up at him after he revealed the bakery's one condition for recreating the recipe.
A man is wondering if he was in the wrong after his sons blew up at him for "selling" his late wife's chocolate cake recipe simply because he wanted to taste it again.
Shared to Reddit's infamous AITA ("Am I the A--hole") forum, the man's story breaks down his many attempts to recreate a recipe she left him notes. However, he could never get it quite right -- and when his kids refused to help, he turned to a bakery for assistance.
Their one condition for cooking it, however, sparked serious family drama. Read on to see the full story and how Redditors reacted.
OP (a.k.a. the "original poster") began his Reddit story by first revealing how hard it has been losing his wife.
"My late wife passed 3 years ago, our two kids were in their late 20s at the time. It's been a hard few years and it is even harder now that I live alone," he began his thread, before sharing his connection to the infamous cake.
"She had a lovely dark chocolate cherry cake. It was my favorite thing that she would make and I always requested it for Father's Day. I am a s--t baker and I have tried to remake it from her notes. The notes are not very clear and it never turns out correct. It is depressing spending so much time and it being wrong," the man told Reddit.
The man missed the taste of his wife's cake so much that he even asked his children to attempt to make it. When they "refused," he looked for help elsewhere.
"I am wondering if I really am a jerk. I just wanted to eat her cake again."
"I have asked my two kids to try and make it but they have refused to. I was told that they will not figure out the recipe and to stop asking. I went to a local bakery and asked for them to figure it out."
"They agree as long as I gave them the permission to sell the cake in the store. It didn't take them long to figure it out and it is almost exactly the same to my wife's," the man wrote, before he revealed how his children reacted to the move.
"I bought one for Father's Day and my kids were happy about the cake until I told them the bakery did it. They are pissed I would sell their mothers recipie [sic] to a bakery," he wrote. "This whole week they have been telling me how I am a jerk for this."
Finally, OP asked to hear from the public court of opinion: "I am wondering if I really am a jerk. I just wanted to eat her cake again."
With over 1.2K comments at the time of writing, it's clear the internet does not believe OP is in the wrong, with Reddit giving its official NTA ("Not the A--hole") stamp on OP's post.
In the most upvoted comment, one Redditor told OP that he should look at his decision in a positive light.
"I'd think of this as a way for your wife to live on in what she created to bring happiness to others. It's not like you did it for the money," the commenter wrote, before making a suggestion for the bakery. "Would the bakery consider using your wife's name as part of the item name? NTA."
However, OP replied saying that he "doubts" the bakery would do that as "they have already done so much" and even given him the recipe with "clear instructions."
Another commenter needed more information on why his children refused to help and their reasoning behind being angry at the sale. OP responded, "They claimed they didn't have the time or energy to do it," adding, "They hate that a random person owns and is selling mom's cakes."
While another commenter shared their thoughts on why they disapprove of gatekeeping family recipes.
"NTA I literally hate the idea behind family secret recipes. It seems incredibly egotistical and self centered. Further, no one else was making it and at least now her good ass cake can be shared with other people instead of just being forgotten about," they shared.
The post was received with an overwhelmingly amount of support for OP. In fact, there were only a couple people calling OP "the a--hole" -- with one commenter changing their mind half way through reading the post.
"NGL, I was ready to come in with a YTA like it was a cake you guys made together all the time and it was a money grab ... but given the circ*mstances and their refusal to even help figure it out, you are NTA here," they wrote.
What do you think?
Amid all the back and forth about the cake, OP decided to share the recipe with the entire internet -- enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 cup of almost boiling water 3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder 1 3/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 whole large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream ( the fatty one) 2/3 melted butter or oil 1/2 cup cherry juice ( not one with added sugar) 1/4 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 3/4 cups bake flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups of maraschino cherries.
Method:
- Water and cocoa are mixed together in a bowl.
- Another bowl the sugar, oil and eggs are mixed together. It then gets strained so it is smooth
- Add the sour cream, cherry juice, milk and vanilla to the same bowl. Add the water when it is cool to the bowl.
- Add in the flour, baking soda and salt.
- Cut cherries in half and put in batter. Batter goes into a cake pan and cook at 350 until toothpick come clean.
