American woman, stay away from me

For the many holiday parties I attended, I baked the two desserts that for which I have received the most compliments over the years:

Blondies, recipe from Baking Illustrated. Ingredients: brown sugar, white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, pecans, etc. This recipe could only be more American if you threw an apple pie on top.

Pistachio Cakes, recipe from Petits Fours by Perruchon. Ingredients: almond paste, ground pistachios, eggs, sugar, a morello cherry, and a brushing of kirsch. This recipe could only be more French if you threw a croissant on top.

I expected the pistachio cakes to run away with the victory since they are moist and delightful with a great combination of different flavors. But every single person I asked preferred the Blondies.

What did I learn from this? I should stop spending money on fancy French cookbooks and start getting dessert ideas from the Friendly's dessert menu.