I find that people get educated by exposure to tastes. I guess that is what taste testing is all about for weddings and such. Sometimes people think they want one thing, until they try something else. There will always be a market for both. And there will always be people that expect cakes to have a cake mix texture because that is all they have ever known. There are people whose only experiences with from scratch cakes has been poor but it isn't all from scratch cakes, only bad recipes or bad methods.
The longer you bake scratch cakes and experiment, the more familar you become with recognizing what works and what doesn't. Baking is all about formulas, different formulas produce different results. There are specific formulas for spongecakes, poundcakes, etc.
Sarah know the combinations that work and the adjustments required based on formulas and how ingredients work with each other. She has spent years experimenting with them, using her knowledge of baking chemistry and applying it to domestic recipes.
It is very much a science.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
Edited to add, the results of her experiment with that recipe are at this link:
http://www.baking911.com/asksarahbb/viewtopic.php?t=3016
