20 of the most relaxing reality TV shows to watch right now

16. Ridiculous Cakes

Baking shows are a tough way to relax. When bakers deal with a competition format, it’s often with dramatic music, tears, and a burned finger or two. Plus, there’s the horrifying specter of lumpy fondant, broken buttercreams, and slumped cakes hovering in the background. It’s enough to make an extra-sensitive viewer cry, too.

That isn’t always the way when it comes to televised pastry art, thankfully. After all, sometimes you just want to watch some masters of the craft do what they do best, without any true drama. That’s where Ridiculous Cakes comes in.

Contrary to the title, the show isn’t making fun of these experienced bakers or their creations. Instead, it stands a little in awe of the process, as the creatives at the center of the series produce gravity-defying works of edible art. Sure, the cakes may be “ridiculous” in the sense that they push the envelope in terms of technique and transportation (like a life-size ostrich cake that must be moved from the pastry shop to a former ostrich-farm-turned-winery). Yet, it is about as far from mean-spirited as you can get.

Generally, each episode follows three bakers as they prepare a cake that expands the limits of what can be considered a “cake” in the first place. There’s a working pinball machine cake by Mike McCarey, a four-foot cake shark by Kimberly Bailey, and a gorgeous geode cake.

Sure, there are a few dramatic moments that just happen to coincide with commercial breaks. As you might expect, those moments, which range from cakes not fitting their mounts to delicate isomalt sugar creations falling apart, are quickly resolved. These bakers are on top of their game, after all.