‘Is It Cake?’ The new Netflix baking show that will have you questioning reality

The phrase ‘good enough to eat’ comes true in the new baking competition that has master bakers create cakes so realistic, the judges are left sorting food fact from fiction

In the new Netflix baking show 'Is it Cake?' bakers whip up realistic-looking creations to try and fool the celebrity judges. Photo: Netflix

If you’ve ever followed a meme trend and thought: “This would make a great TV show”, look no further than Netflix’s coming baking show, Is It Cake?

Combining one of social media’s favourite food fads with a traditional reality baking competition series, Is It Cake? is based on the popular meme of the same name, which involves people posting pictures of items such as vegetables, bags, shoes and savoury foods, and asking “Is it cake?”

Only by cutting into the item are they revealed to be made up of sponge cake and frosting.

Hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Mikey Day, the show brings together nine talented bakers from around the world to create hyper-realistic cakes.

Their offerings will then be judged by an evolving panel of celebrity judges including Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown and internet singing sensation Rebecca Black of Friday fame.

The three bakers who manage to fool the judges week after week will go on to compete for the $50,000 prize money.

“What I do is the weirdest thing in the world,” baker Jonny Manganello says. “Like, there are people saving lives and I am making cake look like other things.”

From all-action cakes to bakers who are more friend than foe, here are four more baking shows to cut yourself a slice of.

‘Bake Squad’, Netflix

If you prefer competitive baking shows that err on the gentler side, this is the one for you.

Yes, the four bakers are technically competing against each other, but, as each auteur is a master of their own corner of the baking world, the show has the word “squad” in the title for a reason.

Rather than disparage the opposition, this show is all about helping one another and hyping up their competitor’s creations as they battle to be the one to bake for the weekly guests, who come armed with a list of requirements and an emotional story to tell.

‘Britain’s Best Home Cook’, OSN

It’s the show on which The Great British Bake-Off favourite Mary Berry ended up after it moved to Channel 4.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the show invites 10 amateur home cooks to compete in a series of challenges.

Mary’s Ultimate round focuses on the cooks creating their signature dishes, while in host Chris Bavin’s Rustle Up round, contestants are given a handful of ingredients to whip up into something delicious.

‘The American Baking Competition’, Apple TV+

Inspired by The Great British Bake-Off, the contest is transferred across the pond to the US, where 10 home bakers swap their kitchens for the studio, for a chance to win $250,000.

With Paul Hollywood hosting alongside comedian Jeff Foxworthy and TV chef and author Marcela Valladolid, the show adds a sweet human element to the traditional contest.

Across seven episodes of season one, viewers can watch a firefighter accidentally set his own creation on flames and a shared fridge become a battleground of human emotions.

‘Baking Impossible’, Netflix

Combining concepts for TV shows are all the rage, and Baking Impossible is pretty much what would happen if MacGyver were in the producer’s room when this series came together.

Bakers not only have to whip up a glorious (and delicious) dish, the cake also has to be able to do something special as bakers and engineers are put to work together.

Create a watertight cake boat that must sail six metres in 45 seconds? Check. Put together an edible, working mini-golf course? Check. Not to mention the construction of a wearable dessert that has to make it down the catwalk intact.

Is It Cake? is out on March 18 on Netflix