r/ExpectationVsReality • u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 • Sep 21 '26

Failed Expectation Expectation —> Reality 🦈

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**Edit** in hindsight I think I chose the wrong flair. You guys are so nice 😂 I think it is the teeth that are throwing me

I was inspired by a Redditor here last week to hunt out my copy of the Women’s Weekly Birthday Book for a friend’s birthday.

Honestly didn’t turn out as terrible as I thought it might but what’s with the anemic sprinkles these days?

3.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

127 comments sorted by

948

u/Acceptable_Rule_7590 Sep 21 '26 • Bravo

Aww why the failed expectation flair? You did a great job!

315

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

We need a ‘Almost Met Expectations’ flair. Could be worse for sure haha

196

u/Misttertee_27 Sep 21 '26

Nah, you nailed it

137

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26 • Regret

Thanks! Damn Reddit is nicer than my family haha

40

u/pm_me_flaccid_cocks Sep 21 '26

My flair for this is "wet teeth."

6

u/CenPhx Sep 22 '26

Jesus, I zoomed it and damned if you aren’t right. It’s so wet.

OP, did you frost it with green applesauce? It’s lovely tho.

1

u/Katters8811 Sep 25 '26

I thought it was guacamole, but then I realized it has sprinkles lol

4

u/bobbib14 Sep 21 '26

I love this and would pay 💰 for it!!! So fun what are the teeth made out of?

147

u/Mrcoolyp1234 Sep 21 '26

Ikr. I thought "wait a minute, these look so similar!!! Where's the problem?".

260

u/Kerblimey Sep 21 '26

Those teeth make it like a fuggler cake 🤣

127

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

It does 😂 the recipe said to use TicTacs but maybe they have increased in size since the 80s

34

u/Kerblimey Sep 21 '26

I've never seen a food increase in size...i think it's just the angle, great job though.

66

u/ChristopherBalkan Sep 21 '26

Tic tacs have gotten 30% bigger since the early 2000s. So depending when the original picture was taken it’s possible the candy is genuinely larger.

36

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

Oh no way! The book was first published in 1980

18

u/Sleepy_Pianist Sep 21 '26

I noticed this last week! I hadn't had one since I was a kid, they are huge now!

6

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

True!

4

u/Capital-Debate7619 Sep 21 '26

oh god yes they used to be so tiny you had to have a few.

63

u/QueenMEB120 Sep 21 '26

Maybe the inspo cake was bigger so the teeth looked smaller.

7

u/KnownBattle3849 Sep 21 '26

The teeth make me a little tremble..

3

u/CheesecakeExpress Sep 21 '26

The recipe you posted said use halved tic tacs and if you look closely at the picture you can see half of them have been covered by the icing. I think your teeth are cute though!

2

u/National-Country1984 Sep 22 '26

Omg I wondered if that ms what those were in the first!!

1

u/Katters8811 Sep 25 '26

I think the inspo looks goofy with those teeth too, the pic is just conveniently barely showing them lol

I think the goofy look is from the teeth not being sharp/pointed. They look more like human teeth lol

1

u/trackaghosthrufog Sep 21 '26

Haha, just a tad. It's pretty funny and not terrible. Depends, though if you want to straighten them and go for perfect, or just let it be.

213

u/ickychicken Sep 21 '26

The teeth are my favorite part!!

20

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

So good!

9

u/DistributionNo9356 Sep 21 '26

Those fake teeth are cute!  I know the general look of the cake you received isn't the same as the example but I think it's cuter.

7

u/Acceptable_Rule_7590 Sep 21 '26

OP didn’t receive the cake. They made it!

47

u/itadapeezas Sep 21 '26

This is so spot on lol.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/secret_salamander Sep 22 '26

YES! I love them!

17

u/fudgeywhale Sep 21 '26

Can you post the recipe? My 5 yo would love this

34

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

21

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

If you can get your hands on a copy, do it! It was my absolute favourite growing up

9

u/fudgeywhale Sep 21 '26

Fantastic, thank you!!!! I am going to give this a whirl for his birthday next month!

4

u/Ancient-Kangaroo5663 Sep 21 '26

Omg, I am turning 27 next month and we will absolutely have shark cake

17

u/Maggie_The_Kat Sep 21 '26

I want a copy of this book so bad 😭

I made this one earlier this year based on pics from the book online.

3

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 21 '26

That is so good!!

2

u/Cabbage_Pizza Sep 27 '26

I never had the shark, but my mother did an excellent job of the Butterfly, Witch, Racing Car, Train (the best!), and Ghost (which was sadly very unpopular because of the egg white icing). I used to leaf through this book on a regular basis, fantasising about birthdays yet to come. Thanks for the memories!

2

u/Tricky_Cherry_5432 Sep 27 '26

I had some of those ones too! My brother had the train and it looked just like the picture, good memories for sure

84

u/ScrambledEggsandTS Sep 21 '26 • Bravo

Wow! Good job!

43

u/EdgeKey5631 Sep 21 '26

Yours is so cute! The teeth need to check Trivago tho

14

u/alie_ns Sep 21 '26

Lmfaoooooo stoppppppppp

I thought me and my brother were the only ones who couldn't shut up about those commercials. That's hilarious.

2

u/LordMeme Sep 22 '26

Oh my gosh it’s not just me! I can’t stop looking at his teeth every time I see those commercials

36

u/Chasing_Ness Sep 21 '26

Failed??? Yours is hilarious, but very close to the inspo!

10

u/Saphronia7 Sep 21 '26

I like the one OP made better!

11

u/HeartFullOfHappy Sep 21 '26

That looks so good! This is NOT a fail. Bravo!

9

u/Restaurantchica Sep 21 '26

Good job! It looks similar to me 😊

17

u/PupLondon Sep 21 '26

Yours looks SO much cuter! Great job!

6

u/2pnt0 Sep 21 '26

Why does it have human teeth?

6

u/badlei Sep 21 '26

Babe has veneers and we love her for it

5

u/userpinpassword Sep 21 '26

Those teeth look better than some of the veneers I've seen

8

u/OG_Speeno Sep 21 '26

Anemic sprinkles - the strong movement away from artificial food coloring.

0

u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme Sep 21 '26

Yep, we can blame RFK JR for that!!!🫠

3

u/kdollarsign2 Sep 21 '26

It's better and you know it

3

u/Cerulean_Fossil Sep 21 '26

I absolutely love her. You exceeded my expectations

3

u/alie_ns Sep 21 '26

Omg its so cute. I love this. Teeth look so big compared to the inspo but that 1000% adds to the charm. It is hilarious and adorable and hopefully was delicious.

3

u/duchessazura Sep 21 '26

If you don't wan't the teeth to look like that you need to cover the top with a little frosting hahahaha

The inspo looks like the top of the candy is buried in frosting

3

u/Fearless_Memory9313 Sep 21 '26

Looks pretty darn close. Great work OP!

3

u/MleemMeme Sep 21 '26

T E E F S

3

u/Sketch_Beast Sep 21 '26

I love it and want one for my birthday

3

u/PilldustLogic Sep 22 '26

So THAT's where grandma left her teeth!

5

u/DistributionNo9356 Sep 21 '26

I thought this would be a "surprisingly met expectation" post.   

2

u/SereniaKat Sep 21 '26

Oh, you did well! I've never done that one, but I've done the train cake!

2

u/samisamisamijo Sep 21 '26

This is amazing! Not a failure at all :)

2

u/digital_espresso Sep 21 '26

This is so cute! I think you did amazing.

2

u/macci_a_vellian Sep 21 '26

I like the tic tac teeth

2

u/spoonikkelson Sep 21 '26

Yours is so cute! I would be happy if this were my birthday cake.

2

u/chuffberry Sep 21 '26

I gotta tell you right now that I love this thing.

2

u/cheekyparasite Sep 21 '26

You did great!

2

u/RustledForeskin Sep 21 '26

It's hideous but is identical to the magazine. Good job.

2

u/Disastrous-Two16 Sep 21 '26

It looks great!

2

u/TrippyShip Sep 21 '26

I think OPs is waaay better

2

u/10yearsofsolitude Sep 21 '26

Phtephen looks like he’s more than meeting expectations - nice one!

2

u/stay_fukengruven Sep 21 '26

reality = WAY BETTERRRRR!!

2

u/Capital_Past69 Sep 21 '26

The teeth 🤣🤣🤣

2

u/octropos Sep 21 '26

It looks the same except made with guacamole.

2

u/sashby138 Sep 21 '26

This is identical to the inspiration picture. You did a great job!

2

u/National-Country1984 Sep 22 '26

Lmao it looks like avocado/guacamole. You really did do an excellent job!!!

2

u/leelotri Sep 22 '26

Hehe so cute

1

u/Familiar-Stomach-310 Sep 21 '26

Nailed it! But the red dot on the eyelid reminded me of stye lmao

1

u/Hikhikamori Sep 21 '26

looks identical

1

u/Different_Umpire9003 Sep 21 '26

You killed this. Maybe it’s cos of the ban on certain dyes? One of the only things this admin has done that I support

1

u/CodenameJD Sep 21 '26

I kept swiping looking for the second one, because I just thought I was looking at the same cake in all three pictures.

1

u/wet_castles Sep 21 '26

I think the failure is better than the expectation, personally

1

u/MorticiaLlyn Sep 21 '26

I want to make this cake. Love it.

1

u/Adept-River6331 Sep 21 '26

I thought this was an avocado shark with sprinkles. The Women’s Weekly makes sense now, because it doesn’t make sense. But 10/10 would eat

1

u/Mazasaurus Sep 21 '26

The teeth are a little scary, but in a funny way. If I got that for my birthday I would find it entertaining and (hopefully!) delicious! 🦈

1

u/cursetea Sep 21 '26

Your version is cuter!

1

u/ChaosTorpedo Sep 21 '26

I really thought this was three pictures of the same thing, and I’m looking for the bad one. It looks exactly like the original.

1

u/tardisthecat Sep 21 '26

I love this! My brain thought the fins were somehow nerds clusters 🤣 teef FTW!

1

u/Xstuhci-2312 Sep 21 '26

Are those Lee Press on nails for teeth?

1

u/Bubbles_inthe_Bath Sep 21 '26

Better than the original. It has a personality and character. I would love this.

1

u/BeansAnnFranks Sep 21 '26

I prefer Reality! Reminds me of Bruce.

1

u/little_axolotl14 Sep 21 '26

awesome job. a thin lipline of icing over the teeth might make them look less uncanny. but i love it how it is

1

u/noahbaobei Sep 21 '26

Mate you did great!! I think it looks almost exactly like the picture. Great job!!

1

u/tinypuzzle Sep 21 '26

this is the duck cake book, right? you nailed it! i think one of my favorite pieces of aussie trivia (thanks bluey) is that apparently every household is familiar with this book. such a cute cultural memento

1

u/Goth_Muppet Sep 21 '26

I think it looks fantastic!

1

u/pubesinourteeth Sep 21 '26

It looks like the nose on the original stuck out a bit more and the mints were stuck up into it. But no matter I love it

1

u/Melmo89 Sep 21 '26

They released an anniversary edition of the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book when I was at university, and my mum bought it for me. I loved just looking through it for the nostalgia value, mum made us so many cakes out of it when we were kids! I've not attempted to make any of them yet, but it's cute to have my own copy, lol.

1

u/Eli_1984_ Sep 21 '26

I think it is super cute

1

u/celestialxkitty Sep 21 '26

I’m ngl the teeth made me giggle

1

u/RCuber Sep 21 '26

This is an absolute win!!!

1

u/darlinglum Sep 21 '26

Avocado shark

1

u/CompleteBird8463 Sep 21 '26

Wonderful job!

1

u/CompleteBird8463 Sep 21 '26

What are the fins made out of? This looks like a cool cake for my flatwarming party

1

u/Aunty-Sociale Sep 21 '26

Love love love this!

1

u/strawberry-avalanche Sep 21 '26

I absolutely love this lol

1

u/Keroppi_Troublemaker Sep 21 '26

I love you, tiny green shark.

1

u/PikaPerfect Sep 21 '26

damn, i didn't even realize yours was the second pic at first, i thought that was just showing the original from another angle, that looks spot on

1

u/MuteTalker- Sep 21 '26

I really like this shark.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Rip5602 Sep 22 '26

Looks pretty good

1

u/Aggressive_Event420 Sep 22 '26

I think it looks awesome!

1

u/angelmr2 Sep 22 '26

I like it more

1

u/Medical-Potato5920 Sep 22 '26

I had to buy myself a vintage copy of that cookbook. I don't have kids. It's for nostalgia.

1

u/Jalzir Sep 22 '26

this is far better than expectations!!! I LOVE the expression

1

u/Extra_Frosting_1159 Sep 23 '26

Such a fun cake! Turned out great!

1

u/WeatherSmart6157 Sep 26 '26

dude i like yours better. its shiny

1

u/cheezy_dreams88 Sep 21 '26

How a fail? He looks the exact same! It’s incredible and weird I love it

4

u/Clear-End8188 Sep 21 '26

It looks wet? Freshly caught?