Streaming

Fan-favorite contestant Liz Marek dishes about her early elimination and the first cake she ever decorated.

WhenIs It Cake?premiered in 2022, baker Liz Marek knewshe was meant to compete.

Is It Cake?is sports for me, Marek tells Bustle.

Article image

I desperately knew right away that I wanted to be on Season 2.

When somebody finally reached out, I was like, Did you see my videos?

Theyre like, Yes, we saw your videos.

Liz Marek in Is It Cake

Looking back, she says the hardest part of the competition was the element of surprise.

You dont know what youre going to be making until you have to make it, Marek says.

Its the biggest test of your skills for a cake decorator at this level.

The first cake Liz Marek made.

But the way that the game also works is sometimes by luck.

The judges panic, they guess, and sometimes they guess not in your favor.

How did it feel to be eliminated in the third episode?

The faun fell in love with the moon cake by Liz Marek

Its not so much [that I was] crying because I was eliminated I wanted to do more.

I wanted to play the game.

It all hit me at once, and I was in shock.

Its been a year, and it still hurts.

If you could have chosen something different than the pile of sweatshirts, what would you have baked?

I dont know why I thought a pile of sweatshirts was going to be the thing.

I wouldve chosen the six-pack of beer.

Or even the ukulele.

Anything other than the sweatshirts.

That was my downfall.

What was the first cake you ever decorated?

What do you think about it now?

The first cake I ever decorated was for one of my best friends daughters first birthday.

She is now 15.

It was the first time I used fondant.

I wanted to make polka-dots, and I didn’t know how to make dots out of fondant.

I bought big flat sprinkles to make the polka dots.

I put it in my book as the first cake I ever decorated.

Its nice to see how far you’ve come.

What cake are you most proud of?

I made this chocolate sculpture a long time ago called The Faun In The Moon.

She looks like she’s floating; she’s only supported by a tiny piece of her toe.

I still love her.

Whats the most overrated baking trend?

I know thats not a cake necessarily, but I dont understand cake pops.

I dont know why you would make them or eat them.

I cant believe people buy them from Starbucks.

Its leftover cakes squished into a weird consistency and dipped in chocolate.

Which viral baking trends on TikTok dont make sense to you?

This trend where you had a doll insidea rounded cake.

I was like, why?

This is not appetizing to me.

Whos your dream baking client?

A big part of Sugar Geek Show was built around Alton Browns show from Food connection.

My dream isto bake something withAlton Brownand be in his presence.

I would marry ganache.

I love it forever.

I love it, but sometimes I hate it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.