have cake and ice cream

Question

We had cake and ice cream.

This is an example sentence from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. I'm wondering in what case the noun "cake" is used as uncountable. Also, which of the following sentences is correct?

(a) We made a cake for him.
(b) We made cake for him.
(c) We had a cake and some ice cream.

Grammarholic · Accepted Answer

They're all correct and natural.

Seagull · Answer

Thank you so much, Grammarholic.
Is there any difference between (a) and (b) in nuance?

Teechr · Answer

In "a" and "c", "cake" is countable; in "b" it's not!

We ordered two cakes and three large ice creams. [countable]

I love chocolate cake, and I absolutely adore nougat ice cream. [uncountable]

Seagull · Answer

Thank you very much, Teechr.
I consulted my dictionary and found out that it's "safe" to say "We made a cake for him." But, I still wonder if we can say "We made cake for him."in some particular cases. What is your take?

Teechr · Answer

Yes, it's possible.
e.g.
We made cake for the visitors, but they preferred the ice cream.

Seagull · Answer

I understand.
Thank you so much indeed, Teechr.

Teechr · Answer

Great!
You can buy me some cake and lots of ice cream now.
or
You can buy me an ice cream and two cakes now.

Seagull · Answer

Yes, sure. I'll buy you tons of cake and ice cream as a sign of my appreciation when I get the chance.

Could you test my understanding? Here are a couple of sentences I made after I received your advice:

We had made a cake for our guest, but to our disappointment, he didn't eat any of it.
We had made cake for our guest, but as it turned out, it was totally unnecessary.

Are they correct?

Teechr · Answer

Your sentences are fine.
Do you think you can be a bit more adventurous and write two more completely dissimilar ones?

Seagull · Answer

Many thanks, Teechr.
I'll take some time and make some other sentences.

have cake and ice cream

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