The 15 Most Realistic Cakes On Is It Cake?

The premise for Netflix's "Is It Cake?" is one of the most over-the-top ways we've seen of highlighting a fascinating field and its workers. Typically, this type of competition show is all about showing off the skills of the contestants. That is true for "Is It Cake?," a show where professional bakers must make illusion cakes that fool the judges. With one cake in a sea of decoys, you can test your cake detector against the judges each round.

The end result is messy, fun, and definitely has us shouting at our screen "That's cake, that's cake!" more than we'd like to admit. Now with a second season in the form of "Is It Cake Too?," we've decided it's a great time to reflect on the baker's finest works in the food TV show.

Since the goal on "Is It Cake?" is for the contestants to create cakes that look as realistic as possible in the time limit, we think it makes sense to highlight the 15 best. For this list, we aren't counting any of the cakes featured in the episode intro or the Cake or Cash round. Those are created over the course of days, and not the handful of hours the bakers have to work with on the show. These are some of the most impressive cakes we've seen, but in fairness to the contestants, we are going to celebrate what these cake wizards whipped up in competition.

"Is It Cake?" Season 1 contestant Jonny Manganello made headlines for this very round of competition, where he allegedly cheated. In addition to baking a cake that impressively resembles a trio of tacos, he also tampered with one of his decoys. By jazzing up one of the real tacos with some squares of red gelatin on top, he successfully tricked the judges into guessing that one was cake. Since the rules were not clearly stated in the first season, fans accused Manganello of crossing a line into cheating. The second season retroactively justified Manganello by making it explicit that the contestants could mess with the decoys, and often they were encouraged to do so.

Controversy aside, this cake was actually the most photorealistic of the batch of food cakes featured in the first episode. Even when looking at them up close, the cubes of fake steak that Manganello put inside his taco shell cake were mouthwateringly convincing. Even in Episode 1, these bakers were here to win.

There would go on to be a number of shoes that impressed us across both seasons of the Netflix series, but this one was the first. In Season 1 Episode 2 of "Is It Cake?," contestant April Julian blew the competition away with her realistic cake depicting an everyday object. Julian's shoe cake not only fooled the judges, it puzzled us too when we first watched the episode and upon rewatch a year later. This shoe is one of the most convincing fakes (or is it cakes?) in the first season. The first time that host Mikey Day cut into this shoe, we truly were shocked to find that it was cake.

This black and white tennis shoe cake was unmistakable from a real sneaker when shown to the judges, so much so that each one had a different wrong answer. Up close you can see the fine details are cake-like, but from even a short distance the way Julain's fondant work mimics shoe leather and material is impressive and worth praising.

Midwestern baker Andrew Fuller made a splash on the first season of "Is It Cake?" with his bright personality and even brighter hair. But the first time we were convinced Fuller might just win the whole thing (and he did) was in Season 1 Episode 3. This was the first time the eccentric baker was able to show off his true skills in the form of an unbelievably realistic conch shell. We say unbelievable because yet again this was a cake so convincing that it fooled the episode's panel of judges.

The outside of this conch cake was painted expertly to accurately copy the color and texture of a shell. Even looking at it up close, it's hard to tell the cake from the decoy shells that it so realistically mimics. Often, it is the shiny nature of edible paint and fondant that gives these cakes away, making it even more impressive that this one managed to blend in.

While we didn't find room for this one on the list, Fuller also made an impressively realistic-looking Challah bread in Episode 4 that is also worth mentioning in the same breath as this conch shell cake.

Louisiana native Nina Charles didn't wind up winning "Is It Cake?" but she did make one of the most excellent cakes of Season 1. In Episode 5, the baker whipped up a realistic-looking bowl of chips and it ended up being her finest creation in the Netflix series.

This cake was another case of food disguising itself as another food in plain sight. When it was complete, it fooled the judges... completely. This is an especially impressive bake considering Chef Charles had to replicate two distinct items — the chips and the bowl itself. Most of the cake is contained within a bowl made of fondant. But the real hard work was done to give the "chips" the illusion of texture. Those things looked crispy. This is why when Mikey Day cuts into the cake, it's not just a visual marvel but an aural one too, since you don't hear a crunch when your brain is telling you that you definitely should.

Despite the tough competition (even from the creator of this cake herself), this plastic elephant cake from Episode 7 might just be the most realistic looking creation of Season 1. Hemu Basu, an "Is It Cake?" Season 1 finalist, put together this small, yet magnificent, cake that looked exactly like a plastic elephant toy. Even after watching the episode twice, we still aren't sure how she did it. But she did, and managed to fool the judges along the way in this tense semi-final round.

In terms of both construction and detail, this small elephant cake is a masterwork. You can see this as Basu puts the finishing touches on her cake in the final hour of the bake, but it isn't until the cake is revealed alongside the decoys that it becomes clear that she absolutely nailed it. Even after the contestant walks up to it herself after the judges' incorrect guess and we see the cake up close, it still looks like plastic. This cake is certainly an achievement, as was the next cake that Basu turned out in the finale of "Is It Cake?"

Just because a cake fools the judges on "Is It Cake?" doesn't necessarily mean it's the most realistic of the episode. Conversely, sometimes even the most amazing cakes get guessed by the panel due to sheer luck. This was the case when it came to Hemu Basu's stone sculpture in the first season's final showdown. It might not have won the round (and trust us the cake that did was a mighty achievement as well), but this sculpture was a feat of detail and time management that no other baker achieved until the next season's finale.

For her finale cake in Episode 8, Basu took on the herculean task of building a stone bust out of cake. This sculpture features the face of a woman from the chest up, and it sits upon a pedestal that is also — you guessed it — made of cake. The way this cake ended up imitating stone was just as stunning, if not more, than Basu's elephant. And in terms of detail, she truly went above and beyond. Even if she went home, Hemu is still a winner in our hearts.

This was the cake that won Andrew Fuller the first season finale of "Is It Cake?" It's the cake that turned him into a champion. So is it worth all the hype? Based on appearance, because we didn't get to try it, we have to say yes. Not only did this cake that Fuller built for Episode 8 deceive the judges' eyes, it was one of the most convincing cake replicas to be featured in the entire series so far.

Fuller's overstuffed suitcase is brimming with clothes and as much personality. Well worn and loved in all places, with a shirts and underwear sticking out at all angles and a handprint on front, this cake isn't just trying to be any suitcase; it is telling a story. With so many details and such an awe-inspiring sense of realism, it's no wonder this was the cake that won the first season of "Is It Cake?"

No, not that kind of crab cake. This uber realistic cake from industry veteran and viral cake creator Liz Marek was the highlight of Episode 1 Season 1 of "Is It Cake, Too?" Not only did she somehow create a dessert in the shape of a crab, but Marek perfectly replicated the visual look of a crab's shell. The outside layer of the cake was colored and textured in just the right way that the judges never even stood a chance. That's right, this crab cake fooled them and allowed its baker to breeze on to the next episode.

While Marek went home after only three episodes of "Is It Cake Too?," she is recognized by her peers as one of the best in the realistic cake-baking game. This is evidenced by both of the creations she brought to life in her short time baking, but with this crab cake she made in Episode 1 she came out swinging.

While some of the most realistic cakes on the show duped the judges, we have to still give credit to the cakes that were discovered. Especially in the early episodes of "Is It Cake Too?," where the judges had a 50/50 shot at guessing between the cake and a single decoy. Such was the case when Season 2 baker Pete Tidwell meticulously crafted a cake into convincing boxing gloves. It didn't quite get the panel of celebrities to trip up, but it was the best looking cake on the episode.

This contestant did an impressive amount of work in this Episode 2 competition to make two cakes that had to be mostly identical. Mostly being the operative word here, since the differences between a left- and right-hand glove are subtle but noticeable. On top of accomplishing a feat of sculpting in eight hours, Tidwell also nailed the overall look of the glove. From the pitch-perfect recreation of the shine of the red boxing gloves all the way down to the leather stitching, this cake was immaculate.

Before Episode 4 of "Is It Cake Too?," British-born Texas baker Elizabeth Rowe was a dark horse contender in the wake of the other Liz. But it wasn't until we got to see Rowe work her magic with this boot that we really understood just how much of a force we were dealing with. Rowe's near-perfect replica of a Doc Marten in cake form blew the competition out of the water in this '90s throwback-inspired episode.

While a boot is not the most complicated shape, it is the pure detail the baker put into this cake that managed to make it land. This is the best fake (cake) leather we've seen on the show so far. Each little element was in place and had just the right look to it to make it indistinguishable from the other Docs on the podium. And yes, the judges really couldn't figure it out. Now that's just the icing on the cake.

Season 2 finalist Spirit Wallace went on to become one of the most controversial contestants on "Is It Cake Too?" Despite her continued success, many fans of the show took to Twitter to accuse her of cheating, spending too much time modifying the decoys, and just having sloppy work overall. There are a number of reasons to take that feedback with a grain of salt, but one pointed criticism was launched at this cake specifically. Wallace's tea kettle was a great sculpture that tricked the judges (even if Kate Flannery could tell that "2 is weird"), but was it fair play?

In Episode 5 of "Is It Cake Too?" Wallace fails to correctly color match the tea kettle cake she has created to the color of the decoys. So, in a last-minute scramble, she attempts to make the decoys look like her cake. This is perfectly within the rules of the show, but as we found out before, "Is It Cake" fans demand fair play. Despite all this hoopla, we thought it was a pretty realistic-looking cake.

You really got to give it up for Miko Kaw Hok Uy, the Filipino-born baker who went on to be runner-up in the second season of "Is It Cake?" Not only did he bring a refreshing and positive energy to the competition, but he also made some darn impressive cakes. Take, for instance, the salt rock lamp cake that had us — and the panel of judges — completely hoodwinked. We still can't believe sugar can do that.

In Episode 6 of "Is It Cake Too?" the chef takes on the task of recreating a working Himalayan salt rock lamp in the form of a cake. While he crafted a cake to perfectly mimic the base of the lamp, what was most impressive was the baker's sugar work. He created a near-flawless copy of the decoy salt lamps carved out of rock sugar.

This cake was the first sign of just how far his creative ambition would reach. Miko Kaw Hok Uy would go on to truly prove himself as an "Is It Cake" legend in the finale.

Who would have thought that the softball-themed round of "Is It Cake?" would produce not just one, but two, of the most realistic cakes ever made on the Netflix series? The first of these semi-final wonders came from Richmond, Virginia-based baker Danya Smith, who turned a sweet treat into a believable cleat.

In Episode 7 of "Is It Cake Too?" we see Smith continue the grand "Is It Cake" tradition of making super-realistic footwear, apparently a specialty of cake artists. This shoe looks wearable! With some vibrant color matching and wonderful texture work, Smith managed to whip up a spot-on replica of this piece of softball gear.

The judges saw through this disguise, unfortunately, and ended up sending this contestant home after seven episodes of competition. But even after getting the close-up, we were still pretty convinced by the painting and stitchwork.

The other softball-inspired cake of Episode 7 came from none other than Season 2 champion Elizabeth Rowe. And unlike Danya Smith's cleat, the judges could not tell the difference between Rowe's incredible cake handiwork and actual softball equipment.

Once again, the baker who delivered a photorealistic boot showed off her skills for making cakes look realistic in terms of texture and color. While many of the cakes on the show don't hold up when you get the zoomed-in view, this softball and glove cake duo was uncanny from the time it appeared on the podium until after it was split open by the host's knife.

The "stitch queen" showed up in spectacular form for this semi-final bake. Rowe doubled down on her talents by making immaculate stitching details on both the glove and the ball. The work done here on two entirely different-looking cakes was remarkable, to say the least. All hail Queen Elizabeth.

We would call this cake the Mona Lisa of "Is It Cake" if that were not literally what Miko Kaw Hok Uy was attempting for his final round cake. When given no restrictions and only an 8-hour time limit, the cake artist decided to show off what, apparently, he does best. In doing so, we were gifted with a cake made to look like the famous painting. Even better, in a lineup with three other recreations of The Mona Lisa, this cake blended right in.

Despite getting the better of the judges, the Mona Lisa cake did not win Kaw Hok Uy the title of "Is It Cake Too?" champion. And while both his and winner Elizabeth Rowe's final bake were impressive achievements in culinary art, we do have this to say for the Filipino chef: His effort in the final episode was the best work he did on the show.