by Flack » Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:42 am
Several years ago an internet fad emerged where people (typically non-experienced bakers) attempting to duplicate fancy cakes in their own homes, often with disastrous results. The most egregious offenders received the sarcastic comment, "nailed it." Riding the coat tales of this fad, Netflix launched the series "Nailed It!" in which amateur bakers are shown magnificent cakes and given a short amount of time to reproduce them, usually with hilarious results. It's a simple, one-joke show that has run for six seasons.
Recently, a new internet trend has emerged. This one involves people posting pictures of hyper-realistic looking cakes and asking viewers, "Is it cake?" This brings us to Netflix's latest cake-themed show...
Is It Cake?
The show revolves around bakers baking and decorating cakes that look like real world objects, and people trying to guess whether or not those cakes are cakes or not. That's basically it.
Each episode features x rounds. In the first round, the show's nine bakers (the bakers remain for the entire season) are shown 5 items on pedestals that share a common theme ("things at the beach", "clothing accessories"), four of which are real and one of which is made of cake. The three contestants that pick the correct item the fastest move on to round two. In round two, each baker picks one of the 5 items from the first round and bakes a hyper-realistic cake based on it. At the end of round two, each cake is separately presented alongside four real similar objects, where three celebrity judges attempt to guess which one is made of cake. For example in the toys and games episode, one baker picked a chess board, made a cake that looked like a chess board, and then three celebrity judges were shown the cake randomly placed among four real chess boards and asked to pick which one is made of cake. If more than one of the three contestants fools the judges, they then taste the cake and pick a winner based on both taste and looks. In the show's final/bonus round, the winner is presented with two objects, one real and one made of cake by a professional baker. If the contestant can determine which one is cake, they win $5k.
If you think you could determine whether or not an item it made of cake, you're probably right and wrong. The cakes sit on pedestals under questionable lighting about 20 feet away from the judges. The lighting helps hide certain imperfections that would be fairly obvious if viewed up close. Additionally, depending on the round, judges are given 15 to 20 seconds to choose. That boils down to spending 3-4 seconds evaluating 5 separate items under weird lighting conditions from 20 feet away. It's also fair to mention that the celebrity judges are not cake bakers. They usually comedians or actors or social media celebrities, who have no expertise in this field. Of course in the end none of this really matters. It's all about looking at cakes that look like real things and going, "wowie! Is it cake?"
The show is hosted by SNL alum Mikey Day, perhaps best known as being "the skinny skeleton in the David Pumpkins skit," among other characters. Other than gently moving the show along, Day's main responsibility is asking "Is it cake?" after one is chosen and then attempting to cut it with a giant knife. Sometimes the knife clangs against things made of metal or plastic and it's really quite strange to see it slice through what appears like a real life object only to have cake spill out. While Day is probably a pretty funny guy in real life, he appears mostly subdued here. There are a few impromptu jokes tossed in here and there but for the most part he just tells people when to come and go and slices into cakes.
The first four episodes of the first (and currently only) season have the season's nine competitors going up against one another in different combinations. Episodes five through seven have the show winners advancing to the finals, and the last episode is the final competition. Every episode follows the same format and the end of each round ends with someone attempt to guess "is it cake?" so if you binge watch the show as I did, it gets pretty repetitive.
When I graduated from college, my wife threw a party and ordered this cake that looked like a book, complete with a graduation cap and a diploma. We had seen several cake baking competition shows at that point and I was really excited to receive it. That was also the night everyone learned that fondant looks great but doesn't taste all that good.
Is It Cake? has eight episodes, but by the end of the first one you'll know whether the series is for you or not. As for me, I just ordered sugar, flour, and food coloring from Amazon. Get ready for
Is It Cake -- The Home Edition.
Several years ago an internet fad emerged where people (typically non-experienced bakers) attempting to duplicate fancy cakes in their own homes, often with disastrous results. The most egregious offenders received the sarcastic comment, "nailed it." Riding the coat tales of this fad, Netflix launched the series "Nailed It!" in which amateur bakers are shown magnificent cakes and given a short amount of time to reproduce them, usually with hilarious results. It's a simple, one-joke show that has run for six seasons.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/M33ISPR.png[/img]
Recently, a new internet trend has emerged. This one involves people posting pictures of hyper-realistic looking cakes and asking viewers, "Is it cake?" This brings us to Netflix's latest cake-themed show... [i]Is It Cake?[/i]
The show revolves around bakers baking and decorating cakes that look like real world objects, and people trying to guess whether or not those cakes are cakes or not. That's basically it.
Each episode features x rounds. In the first round, the show's nine bakers (the bakers remain for the entire season) are shown 5 items on pedestals that share a common theme ("things at the beach", "clothing accessories"), four of which are real and one of which is made of cake. The three contestants that pick the correct item the fastest move on to round two. In round two, each baker picks one of the 5 items from the first round and bakes a hyper-realistic cake based on it. At the end of round two, each cake is separately presented alongside four real similar objects, where three celebrity judges attempt to guess which one is made of cake. For example in the toys and games episode, one baker picked a chess board, made a cake that looked like a chess board, and then three celebrity judges were shown the cake randomly placed among four real chess boards and asked to pick which one is made of cake. If more than one of the three contestants fools the judges, they then taste the cake and pick a winner based on both taste and looks. In the show's final/bonus round, the winner is presented with two objects, one real and one made of cake by a professional baker. If the contestant can determine which one is cake, they win $5k.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh5AgBJzCCY
If you think you could determine whether or not an item it made of cake, you're probably right and wrong. The cakes sit on pedestals under questionable lighting about 20 feet away from the judges. The lighting helps hide certain imperfections that would be fairly obvious if viewed up close. Additionally, depending on the round, judges are given 15 to 20 seconds to choose. That boils down to spending 3-4 seconds evaluating 5 separate items under weird lighting conditions from 20 feet away. It's also fair to mention that the celebrity judges are not cake bakers. They usually comedians or actors or social media celebrities, who have no expertise in this field. Of course in the end none of this really matters. It's all about looking at cakes that look like real things and going, "wowie! Is it cake?"
The show is hosted by SNL alum Mikey Day, perhaps best known as being "the skinny skeleton in the David Pumpkins skit," among other characters. Other than gently moving the show along, Day's main responsibility is asking "Is it cake?" after one is chosen and then attempting to cut it with a giant knife. Sometimes the knife clangs against things made of metal or plastic and it's really quite strange to see it slice through what appears like a real life object only to have cake spill out. While Day is probably a pretty funny guy in real life, he appears mostly subdued here. There are a few impromptu jokes tossed in here and there but for the most part he just tells people when to come and go and slices into cakes.
The first four episodes of the first (and currently only) season have the season's nine competitors going up against one another in different combinations. Episodes five through seven have the show winners advancing to the finals, and the last episode is the final competition. Every episode follows the same format and the end of each round ends with someone attempt to guess "is it cake?" so if you binge watch the show as I did, it gets pretty repetitive.
When I graduated from college, my wife threw a party and ordered this cake that looked like a book, complete with a graduation cap and a diploma. We had seen several cake baking competition shows at that point and I was really excited to receive it. That was also the night everyone learned that fondant looks great but doesn't taste all that good.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/WHPY8x5.jpeg[/img]
[i]Is It Cake?[/i] has eight episodes, but by the end of the first one you'll know whether the series is for you or not. As for me, I just ordered sugar, flour, and food coloring from Amazon. Get ready for [i]Is It Cake -- The Home Edition[/i].