Nailed It! Fails That Made Us Lose Our Appetite
According to Slate, Nailed It! is a baking competition show aired by Netflix which turns the standard cooking competition show format on its head by having amateur cooks as the contestants. They claim the point of the show is not to see experts creating masterpieces, but to watch everyday people fail hilariously.
The show is hosted by well-known chocolatier Jacques Torres and comedian Nicole Byer, who Slate praises for their onscreen chemistry and ability to turn even the worst baking mistakes into good-natured learning experiences that both contestants and viewers can laugh at while still being able to walk away from feeling positive.
Contestants on Nailed It! are required to recreate elaborate desserts within a shortened amount of time, generally around two hours, and the winner of each episode receives $10,000. IMDb notes the show is in its fourth season, the first of which was released by Netflix on March 9, 2018.
Those eyes!
Season two, episode two, titled "Fictitious and Delicious," saw bakers attempting to recreate cakes based on fairytales and mythical creatures. The second challenge focused on baking a tiered cake with rainbow layers, which was supposed to be frosted to resemble a unicorn and topped with a golden horn. The cake that disturbed us the most from this round actually won the challenge, mostly due to its ability to remain standing. Contestant Chris Elam's cake included a horn made by wrapping a raw carrot in fondant and truly haunting eyes. His unicorn looks like it has seen some things.
Maybe don't let down your hair...
In season one, episode two, titled "Fantasyland," competitors were tasked with creating a fairytale tower made of cake, complete with a fearsome dragon, brave knight, and topped with a beautiful princess with long, flowing hair waiting to be rescued by her one true love. Amateur baker Toni Bryant's princess appears to be more of a threat to the valiant knight than the headless dragon guarding her tower. This princess looks like a mad scientist combined a giant squid with a scarecrow, for the sole purpose of terrifying sleeping children.
Is this holiday treat left over from last year?
We are given a winter holiday episode with season two's fourth episode titled "Holi-daze." In this challenge, contestants were asked to recreate elaborate, multilevel gingerbread houses. Baker Joelito Nunez tried his best, but ended up with something that looks like the kids got to it first and already ate half of it. We love that he didn't bother to unwrap one of the stick candies holding up the porch roof — the plastic wrapper will be a fun surprise for whoever decides to dig in.
Let's hope this isn't an omen for the happy couple.
From season one's first episode, titled "First Date to Life Mate," the bakers are given some of the most basic challenges of the whole series, although that is not to say these bakes are easy. When contestants are asked to create three-tiered wedding cakes, one baker, in particular, has some serious time issues. Elena Timman's cake seems like it is going according to plan, but a slow start saw her rushing to get her cake iced in time, leading to melting icing and a goopy mess that looked like it might fall over any second.
We're concerned about this shark's infected gums
In season two's third episode, titled "Head Under Water," the bakers were tasked with creating a cake that resembled the head of a great white shark, complete with an open mouth and menacing teeth chomping on a hapless scuba diver. Contestant Sal Venturelli forgot to add buttercream between his layers, so his cake didn't really get the height required to create the illusion of the shark head coming out of the water. His shark ended up with a flat nose that looked like it ran into the wall of its glass tank a few too many times. The teeth he created are truly menacing in that they appear to be created from shards of broken glass.