Everyone has seen their fair share of cooking and baking shows, but Netflix’s newest baking show will definitely give the other competitions a run for their money. Some baking shows focus on dessert plating, others on various baking methods to see who the most well-rounded baker is. However, with ‘Is It Cake?’, the bakers are focused on a particular niche, making cakes look so realistic that they appear as if they are everyday objects. In the past few years, it has been a trend on social media for people to post cakes that are deceiving to the eye. At first glance, a cake might look like a life-size cereal box or a shoe, but when you cut into it, you’ll see that it's very much not. That is how the basis of this show came about, and Netflix was able to get Mikey Day from Saturday Night Live to be the host of the show.
How Does The Show Work?
In the show, eight bakers go head-to-head to compete for a cash prize of $50,000. Every episode has a different theme that the bakers have to follow to create cakes that look like inanimate objects. The show brings in different celebrity judges, and the goal is for the bakers to fool them so much that the judges can’t decipher what is actually cake and what isn’t. Each baker will be assigned an object, say red solo cups for example, and have to make their dessert look like the real deal. When being judged, the red-solo-cup cake will be presented among a few different sets of actual red solo cups. The judges then have a short amount of time to decide and lock in their answers on which set of cups they think is actually cake.
This show is a little different from other food related competitions in the sense that not every single baker showcases their skills in every episode. Typically, only a few bakers compete at a time, and the other bakers get to observe. This brings an interesting twist because they can monitor their competitor's strengths and weaknesses and learn different techniques from their fellow contestants. This also means that when they are actively baking, it's likely that they will be baking against different people almost every time. On the other hand, that means some players will have to be baking two long days in a row while others get to sit back and watch, because of the volatility of how contestants are chosen for each theme.
In each episode, one baker also has the opportunity to win a smaller cash prize of $5,000; they are presented with two money bags, one which is cake and one which is real money. If they can accurately choose which money bag contains the cash and isn’t cake, they win the prize. Each episode is about 40 minutes long, and the first season has eight episodes.
What Are The Different Themes The Bakers Have To Follow?
So, what are some examples of the objects they have to replicate out of food? In the first episode, the theme is fast food. Some bakers made their cakes look like burgers, while others made theirs look like tacos that one would get at a drive thru. It is shocking how talented and creative each professional baker is, they truly have a very unique and quirky skill that not every baker has. It takes someone special and very detail-oriented to pull off the artwork that they do.
The second episode's theme is fashion, so bakers get to be creative in making their cakes look like handbags and other designer fashion items. The next episode is incredibly interesting, as the talented artists have to follow an ocean theme. From seashells to coconuts, the bakers have a huge challenge in making the cake look like sea-related objects. Every episode is unique in the way that the theme drastically changes, making certain that the viewers will be anything but bored. Like other baking shows, the contestants are timed and have to follow certain guidelines when baking. All of the ingredients that they need are supplied for them, ranging from sugar to fondant to molding chocolate.
Lucky for viewers, Netflix has decided to renew the show for a second season, which isn’t surprising since the show received so much attention and love from the general public. The exact air date of the new season hasn’t been announced yet, but the first season aired in March of 2022. Since it is a Netflix original show, it typically isn’t available on other streaming platforms. However, when it was initially released, the show stayed in the top 10 on Netflix for about a month long. If you are into baking and cooking shows, this one will definitely catch your interest. It is not only fun but incredibly interesting to see how detailed and life-like the chefs can make their cake look.
