Present continuous vs present perfect continuous

[Walt Whitman]

CONTEXT
I’m back home from work. I can smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. My wife is in there busy with pots and pans. I ask her:
(1) “What are you cooking, honey?” / (2) “What have you been cooking, honey!”, and I kiss her passionately.

Is there any difference between (1) and (2) in this context?

Thanks a lot.
WW

[IELTSbuddy]

1) This means she is still cooking.

2) This indicates that she has just finished.

For example, lets say you walk in the room and someone is standing there looking hot and sweaty (i.e they have been doing someone but are clearly not doing it any more). You would say:

What have you been doing?

Present perfect is used (amongst other things) for an action that has just finished and this is an example of this.
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[Navii]

hi, IELTSbuddy

I confused after seeing your reply.

You said the second sentence " what have you been cooking, honey!" is present perfect. isn't it present perfect continuous? If so, how can we say it's a finished action?

[IELTSbuddy]

Sorry, I meant to say present perfect continuous.

Present perfects tenses are complicated. It means that it does have something to do with the present, which could be the fact that you are referring to or asking about the 'action' even if the action itself has finished.

You could say 'he has just eaten a pie'. So the action (eating the pie) is finished, but its still relevant to the present as someone is mentioning it.

It's the same for present perfect continuous as well.

With regards to the cooking, the situation / conversation is still about the cooking so it hasn't finished.

I'm writing this off the top of my head so I may not be explaining it too well. Maybe someone else can add to this. Otherwise, do an internet search to see what comes up.

I just did a quick search and found this which may help:

Remember that the Present Perfect Continuous has the meaning of "lately" or "recently." If you use the Present Perfect Continuous in a question such as "Have you been feeling alright?", it can suggest that the person looks sick or unhealthy. A question such as "Have you been smoking?" can suggest that you smell the smoke on the person. Using this tense in a question suggests you can see, smell, hear or feel the results of the action.

So the tense in the cooking situation, I guess is asking a question about something you can smell or see (i.e. the food).
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[E2e4]

Yes, the perfected tenses are very hard to get properly.
My humble opinion below.