Is this use of 长得 normal?

[anonymoose]

I was chatting online with a native chinese speaker about a certain kind of cake, and in response to my question 你吃过吗？, she replied 没有，但是他给我看了，我觉得长得很美味.

I was surprised by this, because I thought 长得 could only be used to introduce a description of the appearance of a living being. At least, on reflection, I can't think that I've heard it used in the context of an inanimate object such as a cake.

What does 长 here mean? I thought it meant "grow".

Does the sentence sound normal?

[Kenny同志]

She was just trying to be funny and succeeded, though normally, a native speaker is not expected to use 长得 that way.

[Iris Sun]

I think she means the cake looks like delicious.

长得 means looks like

[semantic nuance]

She's trying to be cute, maybe. Normally, we say, something 看起來很好吃。 It may be said as 我覺得那蛋糕賣相很好，看起來很可口。

[genestung]

i agree with #4.

[anthonchai]

Your friend tried to personify the cake when she was describing it.

长得 means looks like

[chinchillus]

长得 is usually used to describe how someone looks like or how a plant or an animal or someone grows.

他长得很高。 He is tall. /He grows tall.

她的脸长得很美丽。 Her face looks beautiful./ Her face is beautiful.

她长得很美。She looks beautiful. /She is beautiful.

这朵花长得越来越美了。 This flower is growing more and more beautiful.

If you regard other objects, for example, a cake, as a nice plant or a beautiful lady or so, you could also say the cake 长得 delicious.

Besides, there is an idiom 秀色可餐(xiu4 se4 ke3 can1). 秀, beautiful;色, scene or face;可, can be (done);餐, originally "to eat", here "to enjoy". It's used to describe the beauty of a lady or a natural scene. The lady or the scene is so beautiful that one can enjoy the beauty as he is taking a delicious meal. So in return, it's also OK to regard the delicious food as a beautiful lady.