Given the rapid, ever-evolving pace of the internet, greenlighting an entire series over a meme seems like a risky gamble at best. But it’s a bet Netflix seems willing to take with the new reality baking series: Is It Cake?
The meme that the series is based on blew up in July 2020, when Buzzfeed’s Tasty posted a video featuring everyday objects, including a roll of toilet paper, single Croc, slice of pizza, aloe plant, and so on, that were revealed to have been cake when cut into with a serrated knife. For a solid week or two, you couldn’t go online without seeing someone question whether or not something was, in fact, cake. Though, the meme had been largely forgotten until now.
In the series, skilled cake artists will go head to head, creating “replicas of handbags, sewing machines, and more in a mind-bending baking contest” hosted by comedian Mikey Day.
When all is said and done, the three best bakers will compete for a grand prize of $50,000. “Man, I should have watched baking shows before I did this,” quips Day in the trailer.
Is It Cake? streams on Netflix starting March 18.