A series of steaks are lined up under the bright lights, red meat and pink marbling visible through cellophane supermarket wrapping.
Justin Ellen holds his breath as a celebrity panel tries to pick one.
They’re looking for the fake.
That’s the premise of “Is It Cake?” — a new Netflix series based on the meme that took off in 2020 where absolutely everything was cake.
Ellen, 19, is one of the contestants on the show, tasked with making cakes that look so much like the real thing that they’re indistinguishable from the actual food, bags, bowling pins and other objects placed next to them.
The New Jersey baker, who hails from Passaic, started his own custom cake business, Everything Just Baked — yes, that’s his name in the mix — when he was 16.
Passaic baker Justin Ellen in "Is It Cake?" He missed his high school graduation and prom to compete on the show.Courtesy of Netflix
Ellen says he makes up to 20 custom cakes every week, both traditional birthday and wedding cakes and cakes in disguise — like a realistic Chanel bag that could be picked up by its chain strap and sliced open to reveal layers of soft chocolate confection.
He missed both his high school graduation and prom to film “Is It Cake?” last summer in Los Angeles, when he was 18. The show presented him with a graduation cap to mark the milestone.
And yes, it was all worth it, Ellen says.
“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says the alum of Passaic County Tech in Wayne, a self-taught baker who developed his skills watching cake tutorials on YouTube.
Justin Ellen made this Chanel bag cake all the more realistic because it could be picked up by a strap.Courtesy of Justin Ellen
“Saturday Night Live” star Mikey Day hosts the eight-episode series, premiering Friday, March 18. The combined reality competition and game show has a “wall” of cake that spins around to reveal each challenge.
Nine “cake artists” — bakers and pastry chefs versed in making hyperrealistic cakes — compete to win thousands per round and the $50,000 grand prize. A rotating cast of celebrity cake appraisers, including comedians, foodies and social media stars, try to guess which object is cake — if they can spot a fake, that baker is out.
The best cakes fool not only the celebrity judges, but also the contestants, who strain to find errant lettering on an egg carton or the lack of sheen on a hard surface in their mission to figure out what’s real and what’s dessert.
Of course, as with the meme, the slicing is the appeal. It can be satisfying to watch the unmasking of a cake that was parading as something else, but the cutting really brings it home. Watch enough of this show and you may start to fantasize that people and problems that thwart you are simply cake.
When the meme had its moment in 2020, it was during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The incognito slabs of dessert provided something of a visual balm as people sat spellbound watching videos of cakes masquerading as Crocs sandals, toilet paper, pizza, houseplants and bars of soap, concealed by fondant, modeling chocolate, painting and airbrushing.
Day, the host of “Is It Cake?”, uses a variety of implements, including a sword, to cut into objects for the big reveal. Sometimes, tacos are just tacos. And sometimes, that shiny braided challah bread turns out to be something much sweeter. But it’s not all about looks — the judges also sample the inside of each cake to see if the baking and flavor is up to snuff.
Ellen has more than 35,000 followers on Instagram and maintains a steady presence of cake-making tip videos there and on TikTok. That’s where the casting team of “Is It Cake?” found him. It’s his first time on TV.
He’s going to have a watch party for the premiere with his family, especially his grandmother, Theresa Rasmussen, “my No. 1 supporter,” he says.
When eating your vegetables doesn't have to mean actual vegetables. Courtesy of Netflix
Ellen started baking as a kid with Rasmussen, and his mother, Kimberly Rasmussen.
Now he shares what he’s learned with a community of bakers on social media and in classes. He sells his own cake mix, which is also available in some stores. (He also sells baking implements, buckets of buttercream and edible money.)
The Passaic baker, who works out of commercial kitchens, is looking to expand Everything Just Baked to a studio and storefront.
He makes all the cakes on his own, but has help from family in running the business.
“I got lucky,” Ellen says.
A cake designed by Justin Ellen of Passaic's Everything Just Baked.Courtesy of Justin Ellen
His sister Brianna, 17, manages his social media, and his sister Tiamera, 23, lends her talents to his website and the company’s graphic design. Ellen’s parents, who work in real estate, chip in with the business side and delivery.
On “Is It Cake?” Ellen competed against veteran bakers like Steve Weiss, a pastry chef who has made hyperrealistic cakes for more than 20 years and teaches culinary arts at a college in West Virginia.
The age gap became even more apparent when Ellen told fellow contestants he had never heard of a Walkman.
“Some of them were on other TV shows, so it was definitely stressful,” he says.
The young cake marvel teaches virtual and in-person classes like “The Fundamentals: Master Smooth & Sharp Buttercream Cakes,” “Fondant Sharp Edge” and “The Perfect 2 Tier.”
But he picked up a few tricks from the show, too, like using molding putty to make shapes and help save time (bakers have about eight hours to make cakes, though episodes run less than 40 minutes).
Justin Ellen, at center, with the contestants on "Is It Cake?"Patrick Wymore | Netflix
Ellen had created a steak cake before — this one was chocolate, with dark chocolate ganache and peanut butter filling — but it was his first time whipping up edible cellophane wrapping.
“I met a lot of great bakers,” Ellen says. “We still text today.”
“Is It Cake?” premieres Friday, March 18 on Netflix. Justin Ellen owns Everything Just Baked in Passaic; everythingjustbaked.com, instagram.com/everythingjustbaked.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
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