One failures per 25 cakes is pretty good I think. If you have no failures you are not being ambitious enough in your cake making. Then again what constitutes a cake failure? In my book it is that even the dog runs from it. Others might feel that a sunken or raised boiled middle, some uncooked bits, burnt areas are unacceptable. Not me I still eat the cake. It is not a success, it is a failure, and a glorious one at that, and opportunity to redeem myself by eating the cake to show I have resilience, and perseverance beyond that found in the common run of men. Even the resulting gut ache is insufficient to shake my invincible faith in myself.

To get away from the technicalities of cake making, I am uncertain why you make a big deal of parental concern. If your emotional state is stable would you not just laugh it off? Well, sometimes things get to you of course.

I am just saying that if on reflection your annoyance with your parents is disproportionate it might be well to consider why that might be.

On the other hand you may consider your reaction proportionate, only you can tell, and one can only sympathise with what must be a tiresome situation.

I kind of know what you mean - if I am the tiniest bit tetchy herself calls me 'grumpy bear', and that makes me, well, slightly grumpy. But after three or four days of having sharp words with the cat and putting my wife out in the garden...just kidding, I have learnt to handle this constructively.