Is It Cake, Too? review: Somehow better than the first season

Is It Cake, Too? came to Netflix on Friday, June 30, 2023, and a new group of bakers had to bake and design their hearts out to create cakes that look like real objects, stump a panel of celebrity judges, and win a bunch of money.

To say I was excited about this new season would be an understatement, but as I watched the first episode, that excitement dulled. But as anyone who watches as many baking competition shows as I do knows, the first episode is always the worst. You don’t have a connection to any of the contestants and you’ve yet to see their work.

Luckily, the show got much better as the episodes went on. I was worried the bakers wouldn’t be as supportive of each other as they were in the first season, but that worry was completely unfounded.

This new group of bakers were somehow more supportive of one another and really helped each other when they needed it. They also rooted for one another even when their cakes didn’t turn out the best or the judges found the cake and they were up for elimination.

Is It Cake, Too? continued the camaraderie from season 1

Compared to many of the cooking shows on today, it’s refreshing to see. Even with shows like the Great British Baking Show that are immensely supportive, it’s still refreshing to see. Especially when it comes to American baking shows.

I also appreciated Mikey Day as host. I had forgotten how supportive he was of the bakers in the first season, but he quickly reminded me by cheering on the bakers every step of the way.

But what about the cakes? The pure artistry, talent, determination, and skill these bakers had was unreal. Usually, I can guess the cake right off the bat and while that was the case for most of the challenges here, there were definitely a few where I just stared open-mouthed at the screen because none of the options looked like cake!

Something they did do that I don’t remember happening in the first season was messing with their decoys. By making their decoys look more cake-like or simply more distressed, they ensured the judges (and me) had a harder time figuring out which object was actually cake.

The finale episode showed the level of skill we were dealing with like no other. The final three bakers included Spirit, Elizabeth, and Miko. Spirit made a record player that actually rotated, Elizabeth made a tool kit with the most real-looking bag imaginable, and Miko recreated the Mona Lisa. THE MONA LISA! The amount of skill you need to make any of these things out of cake is extraordinary and most of the bakers throughout the season made incredibly impressive cakes.

(We won’t talk about how the 90s episode made me feel like the oldest person alive.)

My only issue with the season also had to do with the finale. The wrong baker won. I loved Elizabeth throughout the whole season, but there is no way her tool kit should have won over Miko’s Mona Lisa.

The dude recreated one of the most popular paintings of all time and fooled the judges. He painted it onto chocolate! It’s not like he printed it out on edible paper. He actually painted it! There shouldn’t have been a question about the winner and yet, the judges somehow chose Elizabeth over Miko to win the $75,000 prize.

I’m glad Elizabeth will be able to use the money to fix up her house (she desperately needed it!), but Miko outdid himself.

Other than that, if you’re looking for a new baking show to watch that’s both supportive, fun, and will make you question how good you are at anything, Is It Cake, Too? is definitely worth watching.