IMO, cake is but a vehicle for the yummy goop. Unless is a really rich, dark chocolate cake. But even then I still want lots of chocolate frosting. I am good with equal parts cake and goop or more goop than cake. As long as its good goop.Cookies and things in a cake do not in any way put me off. I prefer chocolate cookies though. The only thing I really do not like to see in a cake that lots of people seem to drool over is fruit. I like fruit. But keep it away from my cake. ESPECIALLY my chocolate cake. BACK! BACK I SAY!!!!!!!

Of course, I can eat just plain frosting or cookies dunked in frosting,so my tastes are probably not to be trusted by civilized cake eaters......

don't have much deciding to do when dump cakes are my specialty *grin*

I don't mind the goo if it's really good fillling and not just some icky stuff from a can. A really good genash is hard to beat... especially with berries added. But then, to Amyloo's wishes, my Fudge Oatmeal Cake is soooo dense and rich that only a scoop of vanilla ice cream will do.

An inch or more of frosting/filling sounds a bit much.

CA Kate, that sounds delicious! Would you share the recipe?

I would expect no more than 1/4” of goop. I don’t mind frosting, but I’m more interested in the cake. Unless it’s one of those Continental cakes with lots of thin layers, then I would expect the goop to be about as wide as a layer of cake.

About 3/8" is about max for me. I rarely do layers, tho. I prefer to make sheet cakes and cupcakes, as they're much easier to transport and store.

I do find my taste for sugary stuff isn't as great as it once was. I prefer less sweet than 'normal', and usually do whipped cream instead of frosting.

I like frosting, not a 1" though, about 1/2" or less. I do find that a lot of recipes I have don't give me enough frosting without increasing the recipe for me.

If it is truly a filling, then up to 1/2 is optimal, but less for a second filling layer. However, my local bakery (an Austrian) does some cakes like -- full strawberries in chocolate cate, held together with whipped cream for a beautiful cross section Or a layer of strawberry mousse in a champagne infused cake that is much thicker -- but mousse is a dessert in of itself so you have a combination that is like a composed trifle.

1" thick frosting is what I see coming from bakeries. I avoid eating bakery cake, unless it's something from a good Italian bakery... like a rum cake or tiramisu. If it's normal bakery cake and frosting, then I just pull off the frosting and don't eat it. lol!

I don't make icky sweet frostings and I don't layer it 1" thick anywhere, except possibly with the edge decor.

Re crunchy things in cakes, I remember making an elaborate layered thing once that included a layer with thin brittle. That was good. I also like nuts in or on cakes. :)

It looks like we kind of split into the not-so-sweet-please and more-sugar camps. I won't eat the metallic cakes from the grocery store bakery, and around here, if it's a better stand alone bakery, they'll be made with a ton of cream filling, which I don't like either. :) But I love cake! When I bake a cake, it's most likely to be a Bundt, because it looks pretty enough as is, right out of the pan (which was the point when they put out the Bundt pan, and by being a ring it bakes tall easily. Then people started inventing glazes and layering in fillings to fancy them up again. :D ) Most often I make something with fruit in the batter, and it tastes good as is. My favorite actual recipes (I sometimes make cake without a recipe) are for strawberry, key lime and pumpkin or pumpkin/chocolate marble.

For layer cakes, however, you all have reminded me of some exceptions, like the Austrian cakes with all those layers of equal parts cream., which Gooster mentioned. I was once taken all around Vienna by a friend and fed every kind of Viennese cream cake known. They were all objectively very good, but soft and even mooshy, and I don't really like cream unless it's cultured (i.e., sour cream, mascarone, etc.). But they're beautiful cakes. There are other exceptions as well.

For me, American layer cakes, with American buttercream and possible secondary fillings, as some of you mentioned, should have no more than 1/4-3/8" (I promise not to use a ruler!) between layers. If it's buttercream or jam, both very sweet, I think it should be less. If it's a fresh fruit in goo thing, it could be a little more. When I was a kid, however, there was often more like 1/8=3/16" between layers. It was more there as mortar than "filling". It was a way to get a taller cake with a solid center--just glue a couple of shallow pan layers together!.

I don't really like most cakes with fillings or frosting. If I can get away with it (not a a formal table where people are noticing what's happening on one's plate, and where specific manners apply), I will eat the cake and leave the frosting, and if I want some sugar at the end I'll eat some of the frosting. If there's a good fruit filling, I'll eat that first, and then the cake. I know they're supposed to all be eaten together, but I don't like the texture of the cake crumbs in the compote, nor the greasy frosting in the cake. On that basis I don't really like crunchies in the cake part. If nuts are well ground and soft, they're fine, but not crunchy. I haven't had the ones with solider crunchies that I've seen on TV. Better is crunchy things like fuilletine or panko in the frosting. It cuts the sweet, adds interest and doesn't interfere with the cake. :)

Thank-you all for your answers. It's so interesting to see what you all prefer! I still don't get those inch tall banks of buttercream on TV, but it's nice to know that there's a range of opinions on this out there. :)

Fudge Oatmeal Cake - that sounds lovely.

I made this apple cake (Torta di Mele al Burro) yesterday, and it has no frosting or filling:

You can sort of see apples peaking through the top.

I did dust it with powdered sugar, however.

Here you can see the apples inside the cake.

I prefer a cake like this which has the fruit as part of the cake rather than as a filling. I almost never make cakes that need frosting - they're a bit too sugary for me. I like pound cake and angel food cake, and as a child, my favorite cake to make was a chiffon, but I did put frosting on that.

My grandmother frequently made German chocolate cake with a coconut and pecan frosting, and I liked that. I like cakes with coconut, but then I also like coconut pie and coconut ice cream.

That's beautiful, Lars! Care to share the recipe?

Thanks, Lars! Something interesting to try now that it's apple time!

If you want to check other versions of the recipe, you can do a search for Torta Di Mele Al Burro, and the recipes will be similar. This particular version has a lot of butter in it, which I like. The original recipe that I used called for two whole eggs and two egg yolks, but I decided to use three whole eggs instead, and it was fine. I also reduced the salt from 1/2 tsp to 1/4, and 1/4 tsp is plenty!

I slightly increased the proportions of the other ingredients because I was using a 9-1/2 inch spring-form pan, but it is certainly not necessary to use this type of pan, as the cake fell out of the pan as soon as I turned it over. Therefore, you should remember to have a plate over the cake pan before you turn it, so that it does not crack in two.

For some reason, when I was reading the recipe while making it, I saw the 1/2 for the lemon zest and read it as for the sugar, although I did use 2/3 cup sugar, since I added an extra couple of tablespoons of flour. I also used 3/4 tsp baking powder for the slightly increased recipe.