An Answer to my Question?

In my last posting I asked a question which was

If a "CoffeeCake" is just a cake you eat when drinking coffee then how does it differ from a "Cake"?

I asked this question not just here but also to one of the Yahoo Groups of which I am a member. I received several very helpful and interesting comments on the entire subject of baking. Some of these comments I am quoting below:-

1. I was asked whether I used scales every time I cooked. My answer was "Well yes, when I'm baking".
2. One person expressed amazement that KitKats originated in the UK, not the US.
3. Canadians cook either by volume or by weight, when they use either imperial or metric measurements (like we do in the UK).
4. I was told that flour in the UK has a higher gluten content that the flour in the US. Hence some US recipes do not work out as well when cooked with ingredients from the UK.
5. One person told me "Flour varies in the US by region. Some regions produce flour from wheat with more protein than in other regions. As a result, the south, which has a lower protein all-purpose flour is known for things like cakes and pies, but not so much for its bread. The north, which has a higher protein all-purpose flour is known for its bread, but not so much for great pies. You can buy "cake flour" or "bread flour" pretty much anywhere, but most people just keep "all-purpose flour" in their cupboards ".
6. The same person also told me "One reason baking recipes fail for people is that the professionals who create recipes assume that you will gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup, but her observation was that most people reach in with the cup and level the flour against the side of the bag, which gives you a lot more flour than called for, because it's packed." (Now this absolutely baffles me - in other words you do not get a specific and finite amount of flour when measuring with a cup? How can you get consistent successful results when baking?)

In the "Comments" part of this blog CopCar said "Coffee cake normally has a coarser crumb than a dessert cake would have and it is usually not iced (frosted?), but may have a crumb topping. While a dessert cake may have more than one layer, normally a coffee cake is only a single layer--and that layer not very thick.Then we have quick breads (using baking soda and/or baking powder as leavening) that may be served with coffee but are not called coffee cakes. Oh! And, coffee cakes are generally not as sweet as a dessert cake. Coffee cakes are for "snacking" while dessert cakes are normally served following a meal (or a wedding or a birthday party!) " (Over here, Cop Car a cake isn't usually served as a dessert. Sometimes it is but not very frequently.)

I am even more baffled now than when I started.

There seem to be some differences between the UK and the US which just cannot be breached. Whether it has a coarse texture, a fine texture, is iced (frosted?) or not, has a crumb topping, or a fruit filling, or has one, two or more layers over here it is just called a .... Cake.