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Expectations Vs Reality: 50 Epic Food Fails That Are Too Painful To Watch
Maybe you want to make up to your partner for something stupid you've done, or maybe you're bored. It doesn't matter; you've found the perfect recipe, and you're willing to commit the whole evening to making it a reality. The problem is, nothing is as deceiving as a recipe. Not even those icebergs that threatened the Titanic. I mean, that lasagna may look pretty in the pictures, and the steps may sound so simple anyone could do it, but it couldn't be further from the truth. That, however, was enough to fool you, and now you're as oblivious as the ship's captain, heading towards a disaster. A horrible expectation vs. reality food disaster.
Bored Panda has collected some of the funniest examples of food fails to make you feel like an iron chef. After all, we all need some encouragement. From stained glass cookies that look like they've just committed suicide to a rice bear that is more mummy than bear, these dishes make you wonder if someone was brave enough to eat them.
Scroll down to take a look at why sometimes it's better to order a pizza and vote for your funniest expectation vs. reality food pic entries.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Was Asked To Make Food Network's Brown Sugar Pecan Bears
RELATED:
#2
Adorable Rice Bear
#3
Chocolate Hedgehog Cake
#4
It's A Good Thing Cats Don't Care About Cake
#5
My Wife Made Croissants For Breakfast. Nailed It!
#6
Not So Much ‘Arrrrah, How Cute’ And More ‘Arrrrraahhh What The F*** Is That?'
Matthew Hyder 8 years ago
Why did they make it with different ingredients? ^^; They shouks follow the recipe. :p
#7
I'm No Cook But I Didn't Expect To Screw Up A Baked Potato
#8
Spongebob And Patrick Have Seen Things
#9
I Don’t Think This Project Could Have Been Saved
#11
I Made A Santa Shaped Bread From A Recipe I Found, It Turned Out A Bit Different From The Picture
#12
Elmo Fail
Vlad Horobet 8 years ago
Uhm, i can't concentrate on the second picture mutant Elmo because first picture Elmo has a weird erection.
#14
My Wife Made A Dragon Cake For Her Mother's Birthday
#15
Blueberry-Splosion
#16
My Dad Said He'd Made Macarons. Expectation Vs. Reality. Still Tasted Divine Though
#17
Stained Glass Cookies
#18
Ordered Cake On Left, Received Cake On Right
#19
They Are Very Yummy Cupcakes That Are Decorated In A Scarier Than Intended Manner
Nadine Ducca 8 years ago
Honestly, what I don't get is these ones that don't follow the original AT ALL. What did you expect? The eyes are those bugged out ones that come in a bag and don't look anything like the original, the nose is upside down, the ears are chocolate chips instead of discs, the colors are inverted (or maybe it was decorated hot and the sugar melted into the cupcake?) and the mouth doesn't look anything like the original. I mean, if you're not skilled or don't have much practice, don't take these liberties or the result will be...what you see here...
#20
This Makes Me Laugh So Much Every Time I See It That Maybe It Was Worth The Fail
#21
Homemade Smiley Face Fries
#23
Ordered A Birthday Cake For My Niece
#24
Chocolate Covered Banana Penguins
#25
Olaf Quesadillas
#26
Bunny Rolls
#27
Rainbow Heart Cookies Surprise
#28
Grooms Cake Disaster, What We Wanted Vs. What We Got
#29
Girlfriend's Halloween Themed Cupcakes
#30
There Are No Words. My Sister Asked For A Peppa Pig Cake. This Is What I Made
#31
Expectations Vs. Reality: Cake Edition
#32
The Force Is Weak With This One
#33
Apparently I’m Still In A Halloween Mindset
#34
My Birthday Cake Attempt. To Be Fair I Had Quite A Few Drinks Beforehand And Not The Right Cooking Utensils
#35
We Tried To Be Creative This Christmas. It Didn't Work Out So Well
Nadine Ducca 8 years ago
It's those damn store-bought bugged out eyes! If you'd just put a little black dot instead of those giant white nipples, it would've looked 100% cute.
#36
I'm Not Good At Frosting
#37
Friend Ordered Guitar Cake. Cake Maker Said She Could Make An Exact Replica
#38
I Would Never Attempt This Again
#39
Devilled Egg Chicks
#40
Paint Splatter Cake
#41
My Sister And I Attempted To Make A Kinder Egg Cake For My Nephew
#42
I Saw A Thing. I Tried To Make A Thing. I Shouldn't Try To Make Things
#43
Nailed It!
#44
Unicorn Of The Sea
#45
Pinterest Finger Cookie Failure My Friend Did. They Were Still Delicious
#46
Dinosaur Cake
#47
Matcha Cake Did Not Matcha Expectations
#48
Spinach Cups For Dinner Tonight
#49
I Made A Mistake Early In The Process And That's Why This Is An Exorcist Swan
#50
My First Attempt At Decorating A Nice Birthday Cake. (I Apologized Profusely To My Mom As I Gave It To Her.)
#51
Cinna-Meh Turkeys
#52
These Were Supposed To Be A Cute Halloween Surprise For The Grandkids
#53
My Panda Bread Did Not Turn Out As Expected
#54
My Panda Cupcakes Turned Out Looking Rather Unfortunate With Each One Sporting A Grimace Worse Than The Next
Crazy Cow Lady 8 years ago
Better than the other attempt at these cupcake. At least yours are close
#55
My Aunt Ordered This Cute Monster Cake For Her Son's Birthday And This Is What They Gave Her
#56
My Lol Themed Birthday Cake. The Baker Actually Thought He Could Free-Hand It
Eliza Allouette 8 years ago
You can just get that picture printed on edible paper, most cake decorating shops do it.
#57
Thanks Pinterest!
#58
Snow White Cake
#60
Nailed This Minifigure Cake
#61
I Made This For My Son’s 2nd Birthday Party. My Timings Were Slightly Off And I Only Had Ten Minutes To Ice The Cake
#62
Duck Cake
#63
This Was For A Work Party, We Thought The Beaver Cupcakes Would Be Hilarious. And It Was, Hilariously Awful
#64
I Should Have Known Once They Came Out With Cankles
#65
Anime Cake Fail
#66
Nailed It
#67
"It Looks Like An Elf Exploded Over Your Cookies."
#68
Candy Cane Cookies?
#69
My Brother Was Tasked With Making The Cookies For His Daughters Second Birthday
#70
My Friend Plays The Guitar
#71
Hubby's Cake - Did I Nail It? Or Did I Nail It?
#72
Was Appointed To Make A Crepe Cake For An Office Birthday. The Result... A Load Of Crepes
#74
Made My Wife A Caramel Cake For Her Birthday
#75
This Was A Surprise For My Wife For When She Woke Up On Valentine’s Day
#76
My Toddler Daughter Couldn’t Figure Out What It Was Supposed To Be
Priscilla Winslow 8 years ago
Of course she couldn't! I'll bet she knows the difference between bananas and cantaloupe.
#77
My Friend Made A Cake. Nailed It
#78
Japanese Cheesecake
#79
I'm Sorry Stitch
#80
It Looked Super Easy And Really Delicious So I Thought It Would Be The Perfect Thing For A Low-Key Morning. After This, I Just Had Mimosas For Breakfast
#81
Drunken Cookie Monster Cocktail? Nailed It
#82
Vegan Breakfast, Banana Crepes And Cashew Cream With Blueberry Sauce. I Think I Should Stick To Singing
#83
The Only Way This Cake Can Be Saved Is To Be Eaten. Quickly
#84
Halloween Pretzels (With The Help Of A 5 Year Old)
#85
Our Stab At A Crescent Roll Christmas Tree. Pretty Sure It Looks Like A Dinosaur
#86
My 4 Year-Olds Wanted An Airplane Cookie To Decorate. Welp...
#87
My Daughter Attempted To Make Peanut Butter Cookies In The Shapes Of Cute Little Bears To Sell At The School Bake Sale. She Nailed It
#88
Can We Fix It? Nope
#90
Avengers Pancakes
#91
Wife Tried To Make Mozzarella Sticks From An Online Recipe, I'd Say She Nailed It
#92
Gingerbread House Village. Everything Tastes Great Though
#93
Yogurt Covered Berries
#94
Blueberry Pie Fudge
#95
I Thought It Would Be Sweet To Make Teabag Shortbread Cookies For My Friend For Her Wedding Shower
Kimberly Robinson 8 years ago
Did she try to shape these by hand? I'm 99.9% sure that you have to use a cookie cutter for these.
#96
Next Time I Will Change Nothing Because I Will Not Be Attempting This One Again
#97
These Panda Rice Balls Are Hard To Bear
#98
My Cousin Made These For Work
#100
Pinterest Vs. Reality
#101
This Is Why I'm Not An Artist
#102
Pretzel Kiss Candy Treat
#103
Expectations Vs. Reality
#104
Ordered The Cake On The Left, Got The One On The Right
#105
My Wife Bought Me Cat Face Egg Moulds
#106
Mother In Law Used The Picture On The Left For Reference... Nailed It
#107
Super Delicious, But Fail
Kimberly Robinson 8 years ago
I think there was too much jam in the cookies and they should have been baked on parchment paper or on a Silpat liner. Some of them turned out okay. A little icing drizzle would hide the mistakes.
#108
Fondant Fire Truck Cake
#109
My Christmas Is Ruined
Crazy Cow Lady 8 years ago
Looks like they are staked wrong, and looks like there are more underneath which gave an uneven surface causing the whipped cream to slide off the hot pancake.
#110
Checkered Cake
Beverly Palmacci 8 years ago
I can't believe people think they can make something so complicated when they probably have never made a simple cake.
#111
I'm Crossposting This From R/funny Since People Are Saying I Should. Ordered The Cake On The Right, For The Cake On The Left
Annika Hanson-Carlson 8 years ago
I think you mean ordered the cake on the left received cake on right
#112
My Sister In Law's Chocolate Chip Pie
#113
M&M Cookies
Chelsea Letendre 8 years ago
I made similar cookies but with cadburry mini eggs - exact same result!
#114
Well Here Is My Fail For Tonight
#115
The Marshmallows Caught On Fire In The Oven
#116
I Can Now Be A Part From Those "Expectations Vs. Reality" Pictures Compilation
#117
Simone's Vegan Hamantaschen Fail
#119
It Was Suppose To Be Pretty, But It Turned Out Anything But...
Nadine Ducca 8 years ago
Yeah, well... Blueberries tend to leak when they're cooked, so this isn't really a surprise.
#120
Salted Pretzel Caramel Brownies
#121
Apple Pie Fries
#122
Nailed It
#123
Fail With Frankenstein’s Monster Cupcakes
#124
Wife Made Me A Birthday Cake. Nailed It
#125
Commodores Christmas Tradition
#126
Favorite Cookie Of The Holiday Season
#127
Rainbow Drink: Nailed It
#128
What I Did? I Don’t Know! But It’s Nowhere Near The Expectations
#129
Chevron Cake Roll
#130
My Attempt To Roast Shrimps In The Oven
Final score:
13points
#131
Wookiee Cookies
#132
Nemo Cupcakes
#133
Poinsettia Cookies
#134
Watermellon Jello
#135
I Tried
#136
Cinnamon Twists. Unashamed, My Family And I Still Ate Them. They Tasted Like Butter
#137
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes. Will Take Some Time Before I Can Take Orders
Kimberly Robinson 8 years ago
The meringue goes on after the cupcakes have cooled and then you brûlée it with a hand torch, lightly.
#138
Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
Annika Hanson-Carlson 8 years ago
Seems like someone slammed the oven door causing the cupcakes to deflate
#139
Expectation Vs. Reality Pancake Edition
Ehren Thomsen 8 years ago
The only difference I see is no whipped cream on the "Reality". Other than that, pretty good pancakes.
#140
Cinnamon Rope. Nailed It
#141
We Saw These Cute Cookies And Thought They Would Be Fun To Make
#142
Rainbow Cake
#143
Princess Dress Made From Cupcakes
#144
Chocolate Pretzel Bites
#145
Monkey Cake Pops
#146
Rainbow Hamantaschen
#147
Happy Birthday To Elmo's Biggest Fan Turning Two (Halloween Elmo)
#148
Make Cloud Eggs They Said, Its Easy They Said. Above Is How My Cloud Eggs Should Have Looked. Below Is How They Turned Out. Still Tasted Good Though
Shanna Norton 8 years ago
you bake the egg whites a little first then add the yolk and bake the rest of the way
#149
Oh Nice Cookie Dice
Penny Leigh Sebring 8 years ago
Now you know how to make cookies shaped like dice, that could be useful someday
#150
This Experience Was A Learning Curve For My Friend And I
#151
Christmas Cookies
Crazy Cow Lady 8 years ago
Just a little too much green icing. and there are no red candies in the expectation
#152
Cookie Monster Bark That I Attempted
#153
I Tried To Make A Recipe From Reddit And I'm Not Sure I Converted Metric To American Correctly
#154
Caramel-Banana Upside Down Cake
Chelsea Letendre 8 years ago
try again in a spring form pan, I made it once and it turned out just as expected :)
#155
My Mother's Snowman Cookies
#156
Throwback To My First Attempt At Blackforest Cake
#157
Little Did I Know Every Single One Of My Cute Xmas Trees Would Crack Into Some Kind Of Green Monstrosity
#158
I Don’t Know How To Bake, If That Wasn’t Already Evident
#160
Turned The Whole Patriotic Cake Into A Soggy Mess
#161
Apple Rose Tarts
Robert Morson 8 years ago
The ones on the right look like they were made from ham. I would probably eat them and then be disappointed that they didn't taste like ham.
#162
I Tried To Impress My Girlfriend With Some Simple Baking. Instructions Unclear
#163
If You Could Get Past The Initial Impression That You Were About To Eat Meatloaf For Dessert, You Were In For A Treat Because It Tasted Great
#164
I Didn’t “Allow Macarons To Air Out For At Least 1 Hour, And Up To 2 Hours.” This Is What Happened
#165
Instead Of A Salted Caramel Sauce, I Ended Up With Salted Caramel Hard Candy
#166
Jamie Oliver's Vegan M'hanncha (Snake) And Our Slug. It Was Still Delicious, If Not Beautiful To Look At
Beverly Palmacci 8 years ago
What did it look like inside and how did it taste? More important than a perfect coil.
#167
Waffle Iron Omelette
#168
Most Of The Recipes Classify Themselves As “Easy” But This Was A Disaster! As The Falafel Patties Cooked In The Oil, They Disintegrated Before Our Eyes
Hila Jonker 8 years ago
this happens with recipes that tell you to use tinned chickpeas and no flour or breadcrumbs. Use soaked raw chickpeas and add a teaspoon of flour to the batter and you will be successful
#169
Peppermint Christmas
#170
American Flag Cake
#171
Minecraft Cupcakes
#172
Lightning Mcqueen Cars Cupcakes
#173
Who Knew You Could Fail This Badly At Making French Macarons?
#174
Expectation Vs. Reality
Nadine Ducca 8 years ago
Well, if you're not even putting the stars and stripes on the correct colors...
#175
So Me And Jacqueline Decided To Make This Nutella Christmas Tree. I Think It Went Well
#176
My Wife Says She Followed The Instructions
Tanja Caloi 8 years ago
the problem with most of these is that the expectation pictures are made with fondant while people attempt the same thing with frosting. it just won't ever look as good/neat.
#177
Fail: Crispy Baked Spring Rolls
Kimiko Nguyen 8 years ago
You could have used wrong rice paper, there are basically 2 types and also 'fake' ones which are smelly and very easy to tear.
#178
Pepperoni Football Cheeseball
#179
Hot Chocolate Ornaments
Kristel Bijnen 8 years ago
I can't call this an attempt? It has nothing in or on it that the expectation has.
#180
Deviled Eggs
#181
Eggspectation Vs. Reality
#182
Sheep Cupcakes
#183
Peeps Cake With A Surprise
#184
I Love Blueberry Muffins So I Decided To Give It A Try
#185
I Thought I Read The Directions Correctly, But Apparently I Skipped Step 2 And Froze The Cookie Dough Without Molding It First. Oops
#186
Attempted "Low Cal Chocolate Muffins". Got Rickety Cricket Energy Balls
#187
Brie And Cranberry Pinwheels. I Followed All The Directions
#188
Strawberry Shame. Just Bought Strawberries, Tossed Them In The Oven, Remembered Them 4 Hours Later
#189
Hedgehog Cookies
#190
Horror Cupcakes
#191
Roomie Tried To Make Peach Sangria From Pinterest. Nailed It
#192
Cake With Polka Dots? Polka Not
#194
I Have No Idea Where It Went Wrong
#195
Everything Was Going Perfectly – Melted Chocolate And Little Cake Balls. But When Dipped In Chocolate, The Sticks Fell Completely Out And The Balls Fell Apart
Crazy Cow Lady 8 years ago
If you coat the end of the stick in chocolate before you stick it into the cake balls, it tends to help it from falling out
#196
Raspberry Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes
#197
Cookie Monster Cupcakes
#198
Reindeer Cookies
#199
Pinata Cookies
#200
Jalapeno Popper Dogs
#201
Moral Of It All: Never Try To Wing A Recipe You’ve Never Tried Before
Christine Piette 8 years ago
Why not stick to something you already know if you have to "wing it"?
#202
These Were Supposed To Be A “Last Day Of Work” Easter Treat. Looks Like I’ll Be Running To The Store In The Morning Instead
#203
These Cookies Were Going To Look As If They Were Bought From A Bakery When We Were Done. Or So We Thought
#204
We Tried To Make These Cute Pumpkin Treats, But It Was A Disaster
Alice Galipo 8 years ago
They're not even using the correct ingredients. It looks like they went to the cupboard instead of the store.
#205
At Least These Peeps Weren’t Too Pretty To Eat
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What do you think ?
Ayra 8 years ago
A lot of them make me kind of angry: People do you even look at the original?! Use the same "materials", go get a baking mold already! And please please: Frosting only AFTER baking and AFTER the cake is cold! Does anyone read the instructions? Very little have to do with expection vs. reality. You can't expect anything to look like "A" when you don't follow instructions or use material for "B", or rather "Z" :/
Alida Saxon 8 years ago
Agreed. I mean some projects are just truly advanced projects, but most of them go wrong because of not reading instructions or taking short cuts.
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mocochang 8 years ago
Honestly, most of those "reality" ones look like they weren't even trying...
Kimberly Robinson 8 years ago
I'm starting to understand why people have always called me an excellent cook. Some of these are just cringe-worthy. You have to read the instructions. You have to use the right ingredients. You need piping tips for frosting. There's a reason that professionals get paid a lot to make food.
Christina Woodruff 8 years ago
My mom used to say that I knew how to cook better than most of the grown women she knew by the time I was 7. I was so proud of it. Then I grew up and saw the things/way most people cooked. I feel so bad for people and how they were never taught what to do.
Load More Replies... Ayra 8 years ago
A lot of them make me kind of angry: People do you even look at the original?! Use the same "materials", go get a baking mold already! And please please: Frosting only AFTER baking and AFTER the cake is cold! Does anyone read the instructions? Very little have to do with expection vs. reality. You can't expect anything to look like "A" when you don't follow instructions or use material for "B", or rather "Z" :/
Alida Saxon 8 years ago
Agreed. I mean some projects are just truly advanced projects, but most of them go wrong because of not reading instructions or taking short cuts.
Load More Replies... mocochang 8 years ago
Honestly, most of those "reality" ones look like they weren't even trying...
Kimberly Robinson 8 years ago
I'm starting to understand why people have always called me an excellent cook. Some of these are just cringe-worthy. You have to read the instructions. You have to use the right ingredients. You need piping tips for frosting. There's a reason that professionals get paid a lot to make food.
Christina Woodruff 8 years ago
My mom used to say that I knew how to cook better than most of the grown women she knew by the time I was 7. I was so proud of it. Then I grew up and saw the things/way most people cooked. I feel so bad for people and how they were never taught what to do.
Load More Replies...
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