Just when I thought I had escaped the existential crisis that quarantine and lockdown had put me through, cake entered the chat.
I'm not sure how or where this meme came from, but it's my new favorite thing. Earlier in the year, I started watching The Kids Baking Championship reruns (hey- we all have our ways of coping.) Side note, these children that are all around 10 YEARS OLD are wildly talented, but I was exposed to something I didn't know I needed to see: dessert impostors.
On the show, the bakers would have to make cakes, pies, and other sweets look as though it was another type or food or item. So when I saw this new cake meme overtaking social media, I have to say I was floored.
I'm hypnotized by watching the videos of people slicing into random objects to expose a soft, crumby dessert. Is it magic? Is it science? Is it really just cake?
These impostors are incredibly convincing. So convincing that it makes you question what else could be cake? Could everything be cake? Fear has gripped the internet, Gen Z and Millennials have been left to contemplate everything they've ever know. Crocs: cake. Eggs: cake. Toilet paper: cake.
The real conspiracy, I think, is - what is the cake? I like to believe that this dessert impostor meme has some more deep-rooted psychological origin than we even believe. In many ways, looks can be deceiving. The outward appearance of something does not always correlate to the substance of it.
We are living in a time where we are seeing very plainly how things may seem like one thing on the surface, but operate in a different way entirely in reality. For example, many shortcomings of law enforcement have been exposed over the past few months. In theory, the idea of peace-keeping officers who serve and protect is an ideal, but in practice it has fallen short.
I think in a way, the cake is a subconscious metaphor for how we all have felt duped. Many of us have had to question parts of our world, our government, and even parts of ourselves in recent times.
Next time you see a dessert impostor, maybe take just a moment to think what it could represent, what it's social impact is, OR don't. It's just cake.
