Over the past few years, the interest in culinary game shows has skyrocketed – especially those centred around cakes, sweets, chocolate, and all things sweet. So, let’s take a look at how the development of these sweet treats has made such shows possible, and the most popular game show premises.
Development of Confectionery
When we think back to cakes and sweets of our youth, confectionery has come a long way both in terms of manufacture and design. Back in the day, boiled sweets were a sure favourite – a simple treat that utilised natural flavours and shapes – as well as classic gingerbread men, and simple iced cupcakes. For this reason, such treats are often used as a visual signifier of the past, and are often used in retro-themed games like Sugar Rush slot to make the gameplay feel immersive and authentic. This slot game features boiled sweets, gingerbread men, gummy bears, and more, to remind players of old times for a retro feel.
Since then, manufacturing methods and new tools have allowed the construction of sweets and baked goods to reach new levels. Instead of simply focussing on the flavours, baking enthusiasts have the ability to fashion intricate and complex designs, with even a hyper-realistic finish. In turn, this led to a wide variety of competitions where typically amateur cooks compete to create the best sweets, chocolate, cakes, and various other baked goods. These competitions have boomed in popularity over the last few years. So, with so many out there, let’s take a look at some of the most popular formats.
Creation Competitions
Perhaps the most popular format of these game shows is where contestants compete to create the best baked goods or confectionery. Each week, contestants are typically given a theme or design brief, which then is carried out under time constraints. This is usually followed by an elimination of the weakest contestant.
It is almost no surprise that the majority of these shows have flourished on the streaming giant Netflix, with offerings like Baking Impossible, Nailed It!, School of Chocolate, and Sugar Rush, to name a few. Other popular culinary game shows with this premise include The Great British Bake Off, Cake Wars, Extreme Cake Makers, and Cupcake Wars.
Hyper-Realistic Designs
In 2020, a video from BuzzFeed’s Tasty went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter) which featured footage from Turkish baker Tuba Geçkìl’s Instagram. The video features cakes made in the shape of random objects such as toilet paper and even a pair of Crocs. The designs are so realistic that they are only shown to be cake once they are sliced into, which generated a viral meme where all of social media questioned “is it cake?”.
As this meme went viral across all social media platforms, TV developers and advertisers alike started to jump on the trend. In the UK, The Great British Bake Off is sponsored by Sainsbury’s, who open and close every ad break with an “is it cake?” clip. This led to the show itself having a week where bakers were tasked to create realistic looking cakes. The meme also inspired an entire game show entitled Is It Cake?, where bakers create cakes in an effort to trick a panel of celebrity judges.
As you can see, due to a rise in technology and the development of new techniques, the art of baking and confectionery creation has been transformed. Thanks to this, sweet-toothed game shows have truly taken off, and show no signs of slowing down.