11 Of The Biggest Fails On Nailed It

These days, cakes seem to be getting more and more elaborate. From birthday cakes shaped like unicorns to cupcakes that resemble penguins, we are seeing more unforgettable decorations than ever before. The best part is that actually creating this kind of extravagant dessert seems to be increasingly common for home cooks. Thanks to the newfound prevalence of cake-decorating kits and tips about how to make flowers out of icing, casual cooking aficionados are able to bring professional-level decor into their own kitchens. The actual professionals, meanwhile, seem hyper-competent, with "Real or Cake" videos becoming a common form of entertainment.

Luckily, however, one reality show is here to show that perfect cake culture is still not as universal as the Internet might lead us to believe. Netflix's "Nailed It" invites home bakers with a lot of enthusiasm but little professional training onto the silver screen to show off just how little about cake decorating they know. Every episode begins with a challenge presented by the two hosts, Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres. With the help of a celebrity guest judge, this duo gives each of the contestants a perfectly-polished looking cake and asks them to replicate the decor to the best of their ability. To what we can only assume is the audience's somewhat bewildered joy, the contestants never seem to make their cakes look anything like the original. From the "jaundiced" Neanderthal to the cake that had no cake, these are some of "Nailed It's" biggest fails.

Michelangelo's statue of David is undeniably a great work of art. Unfortunately, the same could not exactly be said for the statue of David replica cake created on season 3, episode 4 of "Nailed It." Of course, we do have to admit that this particular feat seemed to be more complicated than usual. As even Jacques Torres had to admit when introducing the challenge, "Michelangelo's David cake is extremely challenging on several levels ... This body is carefully sculpted from modeling chocolates to really define his muscle. We don't want a dad bod David."

In the end, though, a so-called "dad bod David" was the least of the contestants' worries. Each of the participants struggled with body proportions to such an extent than none of their creations really resembled a statue — let alone a famous one. 

The first attempt featured a stringy-armed man who appeared to be flexing his muscles. The only problem, though, was that his forearms seemed to be sweepingly large, overshadowing his biceps. Meanwhile, the second contestant submitted an attempt whose proportions were arguably even more questionable. With short stubby thighs and far-reaching arms, her David attempt looked slightly primate-like. Torres even remarked, "You understand that the arms are longer than the legs?" The pièce de résistance, however, was the final submission — a marble-legged statue with one arm that resembled a curly cue. Out of pure shock, Nicole Byer exclaimed, "I'm terrified!"

Sometimes, it is best to go back to the originals, and in the case of "Nailed It" flops, that could not be more true. One of the biggest fails in show history occurred in the very first season's third-ever episode. Titled "Head Over Water," the episode accurately describes how the participants must have felt when they were challenged to decorate their cakes to resemble hot tubs ... with safari animals floating inside. 

If this challenge sounds particularly difficult, that's because it is. The very first hot tub cake submission had serious problems when it came to the engineering of the mud bath imagery. The hot tub shape leaked, causing the chocolatey fluid that was supposed to resemble bathwater to seep out of the structure and form a brown pool that surrounded the cake. Even the home baker who created this cake was disappointed in the results, describing his project: "There was an overflow at the pool ... It is just a mess."

While this cake-making disaster was less than ideal, Jacques Torres was able to help the aspiring baker avoid this same problem in the future: "I think what happened here is instead of using chocolates, you used candy melt, which is chocolate with no cocoa butter." According to Torres, the difference between these two ingredients is key, especially since candy melt, "doesn't set properly. It is difficult to make it adhere to the cake."

During season 5 of "Nailed It," contestants were allowed to work in pairs to try to do a better job when it came to their cake decorating attempts. Unfortunately, though, double the home bakers meant double the flops. In episode 3, sibling duos were asked to bake cakes in the shape of underwater sea animals — including an eight-legged octopus cake, complete with tentacles and large googly eyes made out of icing. Perched on a candy coral reef, this creature cake was particularly difficult to make, as it required extreme attention to detail.

Of course, the difficulty of this feat, ultimately, resulted in some really questionable cakes. The second one looked particularly ill, with white dots painted all over its body, instead of circular dots. This image of a poxed-covered cake led Nicole Byer to burst out the comment, "He is going to a formal prom ... even with the measles!" 

The octopus cake's apparent sickness was not the only trouble with the decoration. As Jacques Torres told the bakers, there were issues with the treat's proportions as well: "The legs [don't] start all at the same level." The good news, though, was that the expert judge had some tips to help these aspiring home cooks achieve better results. Torres explained that making the legs thinner as they went down could help the animal cake look more realistic. Indeed, when it comes to decorating cakes, every detail counts.

Most people know that cakes have layers, but on season 7, episode 4 of "Nailed It," the contestants had to take that concept to a whole new level. For this Halloween special, Jacques Torres and Nicole Byer challenged their three aspiring bakers to make a cake that looked like an alien on a surgical table. As if that weren't difficult enough, the participants were expected to give their aliens a slime filling that would ooze out the minute the cake was actually cut open. In other words, the final result was expected to include layers of fondant, slime, coconut cake, and molding chocolate.

Naturally, though, this did not really end up happening. The first contestant's attempt at a slimy alien cake did not have any ooze effect at all. In fact, when she cut her cake open, nothing really trickled out, except for a few chunks of green dough. According to Torres, this happened because the contestant missed a key ingredient: "You didn't put any chocolates on the bottom. You put some rolling fondant." As a result, the expert explained, "Your cake absorbed all the slime."

As if this initial fail was not enough, things only went from bad to worse. The final contestant created an extraterrestrial that was so pale that it called to mind severe blood loss. And, apparently, the judges saw things similarly. Byer even blurted, "This is the most haunted-looking thing I've ever seen. Just the color you chose!" 

Anything might sound romantic "à la francaise," but the French version of "Nailed It" will take you from "oh là là" to "uh oh" in about half a second. In season 1, episode 5 of "Nailed It: France," the contestants were asked to make cakes shaped like little love monsters. Instead, though, they just made monsters. 

The second contestant, in particular, struggled with the task of making a puffy pink creature with three chocolate eyes and tentacles clutching white hearts. Instead, she made a squished pile of pink frosting with two jelly bean "nostrils" pushed toward the front. In other words, she accidentally made a cake that looked more like a pig-shaped cushion than an adorable love monster.

And, that was not the scariest cake to haunt the episode. The third contestant made a cake hidden beneath an odd little pile of blue frosting — after sticking his fingers into the mix, licking them, and proceeding to dig them back into the batter and frosting alike. This strategy goes against just about any sanitary code that we have ever heard of, and French chef and show hostess, Noémie Honiat, agreed. The culinary expert chastised the aspiring baker for this major oversight, saying, that his "hygiene [was] off the charts." She went on to add, "There's plenty of kitchen utensils. And look, you are green all over [with frosting stains]."