Castles, Cannolis & Cartoon Characters

Tonight was a Walt Disney World extravaganza on Cake Boss, "Castles, Cannolis & Cartoon Characters". Buddy and Mauro head down to Disney World with their families for work and vacation, enjoying all the Disney delights and also participating in the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

It was also a special occasion as the Cake Boss' daughter Sofia was celebrating her birthday. Though Buddy had originally planned on buying a Disney cake for her while they were down in Orlando, Sofia had other ideas. After hugging one of her fave princesses Ariel, she begged her father to make her a princess castle cake. How could he refuse? After Sofia got her way, Ariel joked "Sounds like me and King Triton." Pretty funny stuff for a Disney princess.

Buddy pulled some strings and got himself into one of the Disney kitchens, so he properly make Sofia's Disney castle cake. While Buddy talked with the gourmet chef loaning them the kitchen, there was a funny moment when Buddy asked about "fondant", and the chef had no idea what he was saying. Thus arose an amusing language problem, with the Hoboken pronunciation of "fondant" being quite different from the French one.

Buddy and Maura had a tough time putting together the cake. Just imagine yourself, trying to make dinner in someone else's kitchen. Where are the pots, the utensils...how does an electric burner work? Now magnify that by 10, with Buddy and Maura trying to figure out where all of the tools of the cake trade are, where all the ingredients are kept, and how to use a small oven that's radically different from their old school industrial oven at home.

The first mishap occurs when Buddy "cooks" the sponge cake for a half hour, only to discover the oven wasn't on. Then Mauro and Buddy search the kitchen looking for the fondant, only to find it under lock and key. Our Cake Boss bakers had to wait until the resident chef arrived to unlock the much-needed fondant.

Back at home, Buddy has sculptors on staff to make the detailed figures on the cake. This time, he was on his own, and Buddy did an amazing job with the Disney princesses. It was fun watching Buddy and his family meet up with the Disney princesses in the park, and then see Buddy back in the kitchen making up perfect mini replicas out of modeling chocolate. He made four princesses, his daughter's favorites: Ariel, Mulan, Jasmine, and Belle.

The castle cake was huge, with bricks, and arches, and turrets. The detail was fantastic, even on the platform, where Mauro added some water and little speckled candy rocks. Buddy added the princesses and voila! A cake fit for a princess. Sofia was thrilled, and looked adorable in her Belle outfit. It's no doubt going to be a birthday she always remembers.

The second part of Cake Boss, "Castles, Cannolis & Cartoon Characters", centered around the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Buddy had Frankie drive down from New Jersey with trays and trays of freshly made cannoli shells, while Buddy and Mauro whipped up enough filling to make cannolis for 2000 people. Buddy estimated it would take 350 pounds of cream!

At the Epcot Festival, Buddy and Mauro's Cake Boss cannoli booth was hopping, with people grabbing up cannolis as fast as they could make them. Buddy explained to enthusiastic Festival guests that were gushing over the cannolis that the secret was to fill them with fresh cream on the spot. "No one likes a soggy cannoli," Buddy stressed, and truer words were never spoken. Let's not even talk about frozen cannolis some restaurants dish out.

Disney World was a Cake Boss success. Buddy got tons of great publicity via Carlo's signature cannolis at the Epcot Food & Wine fest, enjoyed a Disney vacation with his family, and made a perfect Disney princess birthday for his daughter.

Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 9/8c, and midnight/11c. Check your local listings for encores, and for reruns of previous Cake Boss episodes.




PHOTOS: Cake Boss, "Castles, Cannolis & Cartoon Characters", c2010 TLC. Used with permission.

Cake Boss -- "Apples, Arguments, & Animal Prints"

Tonight on Cake Boss, "Apples, Arguments, & Animal Prints", Buddy made our mouths water at the same time he and his Cake Boss crew wowed us with their mad sculpting skills.

Commissioned to make a cake for a party at an apple orchard, Buddy was determined to make a cake that was apple through and through, from the decorations to the core.

He had Joe bake him up a sponge cake using apples, a recipe they'd never attempted before. Joe tried it first with applesauce, spices, and nuts, which turned out well but not exactly what Buddy was looking for. He asked Joe to try again with chopped apples, and the Cake Boss taste test crew declared the new recipe a winner.

The Cake Boss crew also whipped up butter cream filling with apple bits, caramel, and nuts. Watching them put the apple cake and apple filling together was truly mouth-watering. One of the frequent criticisms of specialty cakes is that they look great but taste terrible--I have a feeling that this apple orchard cake tasted as fantastic as the final result looked.

It's always fun to see what the Cake Boss crew comes up with for the designer cakes. The orchard cake in "Apples, Arguments, & Animal Prints" had three tiers of hand-painted orchard along with sculpted trees, apples, apple baskets, pumpkins, and little signs pointing the way to areas of the "farm". I think the little modeling chocolate apples in the tiny baskets was the highlight of the cake. There were red, yellow, and green apples, rice crispie treat trees, and perfectly formed fondant leaves. The large tree on top even had a tire swing attached for perfect authenticity.

It was also fun to see how even with all the stress in his day, Buddy loves his job and can be soothed by the joy of painting "happy trees" on the cake. It shows how being creative in your life can be fulfilling, stress-relieving, and even meditative. There's also the reward of seeing the thrilled and excited people at the orchard who love every bit of the cake, from the detail to the taste.

The second part of Cake Boss, "Apples, Arguments, & Animal Prints" involved a bit of manufactured drama between Buddy and his sister Mary over her 40th birthday cake. After being teased and ignored by Buddy, Mary orders a cake from another baker--who, being that he's a friend of the family, quickly calls Buddy to let him know his sister has gone behind his back.

Mary and Buddy have a bit of a shouting match, Mom steps in, and everyone makes nice and hugs. Buddy and his Cake Boss crew are in fact already working on the cake, full of animal prints, and girlie bling. The cake makes a fantastically bold statement, with bright colored layers wrapped in varying animal prints and then studded with beads and rhinestones. There are shoes, and shopping bags with fluffy tissue, eye shadows and lipsticks, but the crowning glory is a black patent leather purse trimmed in rhinestones, with Buddy's initials as the designer label.

Mary looks truly thrilled at the presentation of her cake, overwhelmed at all the details and attention to the things she loves best. It's hugs and kisses all around, and the Cake Boss family is all happiness once again.

Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 9/8c. Check your local listings for Cake Boss new episode encores and older episode repeats.




PHOTOS: Elizabeth Baez; Buddy and his Cake Boss crew at work; Cake Boss "Apples, Arguments, & Animal Prints, c2010 TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Colorful Characters & Christmas Costumes"

Cake Boss Buddy and artist Renee work on a holiday party cake in "Colorful Characters & Christmas Costumes."
(*Click* pic for larger image.)

Buddy and the Cake Boss crew were back tonight with holiday larks, laughs, and large, lavish cakes. At the start of "Colorful Characters & Christmas Costumes", Buddy has a consultation with larger than life drag queen Miss Richmond, whose putting on a holiday show and needs a cake she can jump out of. It's a priceless scene as the usual gregarious Buddy gets overwhelmed by Miss Richmond's squeals and squees and non-stop chatter.

Buddy shares the wealth by bringing the even more alarmed Mauro down to help him "take measurements" to make sure they create a cake large enough. It's clear Buddy just brought Mauro down to watch him squirm, and everyone has a laugh as Miss Richmond goes ga-ga for Mauro.

The Cake Boss crew also has a bit of fun when they build the frame for the cake, and nominate Frankie to stand in it to check the size. They put the frame over his head as he stands there, and it's going fine until, as Buddy tells us in voiceover "it gets stuck on his butt!" The whole crew, including Frankie, howls with laughter as he stands there, stuck with a cake box as a tutu.

The frame is remade, and the scrumptious vanilla, fudge, and strawberry cake is piled up to create a tower. Buddy adds rice crispie at the top for sturdiness, in case Miss Richmond leans on the cake when she breaks out the top.

Buddy and a few of his Cake Boss crew bring the cake to Miss Richmond's show, but the cake is too large to fit inside. Miss Richmond has a split second panic attack (and we get to see Buddy's hilarious impression of this later), but then quickly recovers herself and orders her manager to bring the whole audience outside.

As Miss Richmond shimmies into the cake and the boys bring down the lid, Buddy asks "Is it straight?" We hear Miss Richmond's muffled droll reply "I wouldn't say that." There's a small pause, and then all the Cake Boss boys burst out laughing as they get the joke.

The small crowd gathers, Miss Richmond stands up out the top of the cake wearing her Christmas tree costume, and the crowd goes wild. They love it, especially when she leans over and plants a big kiss on Mauro's forehead, leaving a giant lip print there. Everyone's happy, it's a huge success, and Buddy tells us that it probably turned out better than if they'd actually gotten the cake on the stage.

For the second cake of the show, Buddy and the Cake Boss crew put together a gorgeous girly-girl cake for a bunch of young women's holiday party. Delivery boys Anthony and Stretch drool over the two girls who show up for the consultation, and Buddy chastises the boys later as they beg to be allowed to deliver the cake.

Buddy stacks up the beautiful layers of the square cake, then puts the Cake Boss girls to work adding bling--pearls and jewels, a gold shoe, make-up, presents, gift bags, and more. It's a multi-colored, shining, boutique beauty, and the crew is thrilled with the result. They're even more thrilled with the idea of playing a prank on Anthony and Stretch--so Buddy tells the boys they can deliver the cake as long as they dress up as Elves. Before you can say "Fifth Avenue hotties", Anthony and stretch are wearing green tights and pointy hats and dancing a jig.



While Buddy tells us that some girls might like elves (and we do), the boys are running around town in elf costumes, carrying a cake, and trying to find the right address. They finally get to the party, and the gorgeous cake overshadows their male charms at first. The girls gush endlessly over all the cute and meticulous details of the Cake Boss specialty, and so Anthony finally decides to speak up and tell the story of how they wore the elf costumes just to get to see the girls. Then the boys ask for their numbers. Classy guys, classy. Nice and subtle. I'm not so sure the girls were into these elves, but you never know.

As a last crowning glory to the episode, the Cake Boss crew voted which of the "pretty men" would look best as a drag queen for the day. Whoever won got to strut their stuff down in the bakery for the day. As they showed the pics of all the guys, I kept thinking Buddy's brother-in-law Joe was the prettiest--and yep, he won the prize. He made a pretty nice looking woman, with great legs (turns out he's a firefighter as well as a baker, so he's in great shape)!

The Cake Boss crew were snorting and giggling as Joey handed out cookies to the shocked and amused customers, telling people "I lost a bet" and "Hurry up, these shoes are killing me." Once again, Cake Boss entertains us with both the incredible skill of the bakers and the joy of their good-natured goofing off. After a few episodes of too much yelling and engineered drama, it was great to see the Cake Boss I love back to its friendly ways.

Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 9/8c. Check your local listings for encore episodes and repeats of the series.

PHOTOS: Buddy and Renee assess their work on the Holiday party cake; Buddy works on Miss Richmond's cake while Toni, Christine, and Catherine bustle in the background; Cake Boss "Colorful Characters & Christmas Costumes", c2009 TLC.

Cake Boss Finale -- "Fireworks, Falling Fondant, & Fathers"

Tonight on the season finale of Cake Boss, "Fireworks, Falling Fondant, & Fathers", Buddy and the Cake Boss crew made a spectacular cake, the crew had some fun with fireworks, and Buddy paid tribute to fathers.

The client tonight was the Grucci family, whose fireworks company has put on spectacular displays for major New York holidays and events. They wanted a cake for the celebration of their late father's birthday, and hoped it would include some of the monuments they've lit up with fireworks in their business's lengthy career.

Buddy was excited about creating a cake that the Gruccis would later add pyrotechnics to. Having recently honored his own father with a celebration, Buddy was happy to help another family remember where they came from and rejoice in their family success. Buddy came up with a cake of a miniature New York City, with the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State building, and even Carlo's Bakery.

As they began work, Buddy decided he wanted to see how the cake would react to fireworks. They sent Frankie off for a sparkler and then Buddy set it up in the cake. You can see what happened in the progression below (*Click* all Cake Boss pics for larger images!):

The crew waits at a safe distance:


The innocent cake and sparkler:


Kaboom!


The stunned crowd:


This cake went the distance!


Once the fun and mayhem were over, the Cake Boss crew got to work. The skyscrapers were going to be 4-5 feet tall, which took a lot of cake. Daniella made the Statue of Liberty out of rice crispy treats covered in green fondant. The Cake Boss crew used plastic forms to press brick shapes into the fondant, as well as paint little windows in a perfect grid pattern.


It's always a joy to watch Buddy and the Cake Boss crew with all their clever creations that make each detail so realistic. My favorites were the stadium decorated with multi-colored round sprinkles inside to simulate the dotted blur of a crowd inside, as well as the black fondant covered in a layer of poppyseeds for the building roofs.

Buddy's favorite part of the scene was a mini-replica of Mr. Grucci, sitting at the foot of the Statue of Liberty with a little wire, ready to detonate some fireworks. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, showing you the magnificent masterpiece the Cake Boss crew put together for the Grucci family celebration.







Buddy went with his son to Take Your Dad to School Day, and brought mini cakes for all the kids to decorate with their dads. Buddy also shared a pic of him with his own father in the bakery.



Cake Boss went through a short montage of the highlights of the past season, with the incredible cake creations and occasioinal mishaps that come out of Carlo's family bakery. It's been a fun and exciting journey with Buddy and the Cake Boss crew, and I'm looking forward to more fancy fireworks in the upcoming season.





PHOTOS: Buddy Valastro, Frank Amato, and Tony "Tone Tone" Albanese working on the skyscraper cake, c2009 Libby Klein, TLC. Screencaps of "Fireworks, Falling Fondant, & Fathers", Cake Boss, c2009 TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Leaning, Lobsters, and Lectures"

Tonight on Cake Boss, "Leaning, Lobsters, and Lectures", Buddy and his Cake Boss team may have outdone themselves. But before I get into that, let me just tell all you Cake Boss fans that our favorite show has been renewed for another 18 episodes--and should air on TLC in the fall. So, more Buddy and the gang and fantastic cake creations!

The main cake in the episode was for a bridal couple who wanted The Leaning Tower of Pisa, but only if it could be very accurate. Buddy told them that a leaning cake would definitely be tricky, but he was excited to do it and he knows they'll love the final result.

The work that Buddy and the Cake Boss crew put into this was incredible and a joy to watch. Buddy smartly made the cake level, then shimmed it up at the end to add the leaning effect. The cake was layered and frosted around a center support pipe, with cardboard circular supports in between.

The detail was amazing. The Cake Boss crew laid out fondant, then spun a patterned roller over it that made a perfect brick design. They then wrapped the brick sheeting around each layer of cake. Buddy added long toothpick supports between the layers, then wrapped each one with fondant. Then the Cake Boss crew added arches, and Buddy cut out little tiny pillar caps and wrapped them around each little support beam for perfect accuracy.

The whole Cake Boss crew was excited about this amazing project. Buddy thought it needed a more rustic look, and so they added edible highlighter dust to add shadows and an aged look to the "bricks".

Once it was all done, Buddy carefully added tapered blocks of wood to raise one side of the Tower of Pisa base. Then the Cake Boss crew carefully slid another base over the top to make a level floor and hide the shims. Once covered in fondant, they added Daniella's sculpted masterpiece--a mini replica of the bridal couple themselves riding a Vespa next to the Tower.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa cake was an absolute masterpiece. Not only did Buddy and the Cake Boss crew create a beautifully ornate representation of the Tower, but the added personalization of the couple on the Vespa was inspired. The happy couple were thrilled beyond belief, and there was mad applause from the crowd from the moment the Cake Boss crew entered the room with the cake. Buddy said "They were cheering like we were Bon Jovi!"

For the second Cake Boss creation, we had a best man who came to the consultation with no idea of what he wanted. The guy honestly seemed a little stoned, and Buddy did his best to come up with an idea for the lobster/clam bake engagement party. The best man was thrilled when Buddy came up with a bride and groom lobster getting ready to "take the plunge" into a pot of boiling water.

Things seem fine until the best man reappears some time later in the week and tells Buddy that he confused the dates for the engagement part. It's not next week, after all, it's tonight. Now I'm convinced the guy is/was stoned. Buddy is stunned. His first instinct is that it's not going to happen; there's not enough time. The best man begs for forgiveness and help, and Buddy is way too nice, so he agrees to do the best he can.

The Cake Boss crew thinks Buddy is crazy and tells him he's on his own. So Buddy whips up a few layers of cake and wraps them in gray fondant to make the pot. He adds handles. Then he creates bubbles by boiling candy sugar and pouring it over a flat tray of ice--the ice melts, but the candy retains the shape of the crushed ice chips and gives it a frothy appearance. Buddy is thrilled that it looks just like a bubbling water and adds it to the top of his cake.

There's a cover partially over the pot, and then Buddy needs to make up his lobster. The Cake Boss crew has a bit of fun when Buddy's cousin brings in live lobsters for Buddy to use as models for his sculpture. It's a hilarious image, seeing a table full of cake making tools, dough, and fondant, with two live lobsters staring up at Buddy.

He finishes up his lobsters with a little shading, then a top hat for the groom and a veil for the bride. He interlocks their lobster claws to show them holding hands. He adds a little edible sign at the bottom that congratulates the couple on "taking the plunge".

The cake is adorable, and Buddy gets applause from the small gathering as he brings over the lobster cake. Buddy's job as Cake Boss is to make people happy, and he once again scores high marks in that category.




Watch the season finale of Cake Boss next Monday, August 17, at 10/9c.

PHOTOS: Buddy Valastro works on The Leaning Tower of Pisa cake; Daniella Storzillo works on the bridal couple and Vespa sculptures; Buddy's lobster. Cake Boss, c2009 TLC.

Ultimate Cake Off Premiere on TLC

The Ultimate Cake Off contestants wait to hear the judges' verdict.

Tonight TLC premiered their new show Ultimate Cake Off, which will take over for the Cake Boss after his season finale at the end of the month. Ultimate Cake Off features cake designers of varying styles, backgrounds, and experience to compete against one another for a cash prize and event feature.

For this premiere episode of Ultimate Cake Off, the three cake designers were competing to be the featured cake at Aquarium of the Pacific's Shark Summer Celebration. The first odd thing about the show was that the contestants were told that the client's opinion was the dealbreaker--yet there was no discussion between the clients and designers. There may have been some interaction off-camera, but it seemed jarring not to see it. On Cake Boss, we always get a glimpse into Buddy's conference with his clients.

The competing designers, Ashley, Tariq, and Richard, had to create a shark-themed cake that was kid-friendly, 5 feet high, and 60% edible. Richard set out to make a tower cake with a tubed water feature at the top, adorned by a shark fin. Tariq worked on a traditional stacked cake with multiple layers adorned with shark sculptures, including a shark bursting out of the cake. Ashley had a wildly ambitious design with a sculpture of coral, seaweed, all manner of sea creatures, and a rotating shark at the top.

Ultimate Cake Off followed the three designers as they worked with their teams. Then suddenly the judges broke in to give them a cake sculpture "contest". The person who sculpted a realistic crab replica would get to boot another designer from the cake-making for 30 minutes. Ashley looked furious, and I couldn't blame her. This was a needless bit of "drama" inserted into an already interesting contest.

It also seemed silly to test contestants that they selected for the show. It was almost like they were saying they hadn't vetted these people at all for Ultimate Cake Off, and weren't sure what the client was going to get.

Later they inserted another challenge, a taste test of their cakes. This made a little more sense, since it's fine when a cake looks pretty, but who wants it if it tastes awful? The only confusing thing was that it didn't look like the designers actually used those style of cakes in their designs, but perhaps this was something that wasn't shown.

Both Ashley and Tariq lost a half hour due to these Ultimate Cake Off contests. Personally, I would have much preferred that the winner *gained* a half hour. This way it would be good for the winner, and wouldn't generate unneded animosity between contestants.

The usual mishaps ensued, as happens when you have an unrealistic deadline. Ashley cut her thumb severely. Tariq's cake was crooked. Richard's water feature broke. In the end, Richard felt his finished cake was not up to par, and the judges agreed.
Tariq's cake was bright and cheery and a little cartoonish. Oddly, the Ultimate Cake Off client who had seemed somewhat put off by the idea of a cake-eating shark now complimented that very feature. The judges also felt the event logo was prominently and properly displayed on the cake. They were worried by the odd tilt of the cake, however.

Ashley's cake was, in fact, a master work. Even both other cake designers acknowledged it as such. The myriad of spun-sugar sea creatures and seaweed was astounding. The client complimented the accuracy of the sharks portrayed on the piece. The judges found fault with the dark colors of the cake, and were upset about the logo not being more on display.

At the end of Ultimate Cake Off, Tariq's cake was chosen, for what seemed very flimsy reasons. The client actually didn't seem like she agreed with the decision but was pressured by the judges. If the criticism of Ashley's cake had been that it wasn't as easily edible as Tariq's more traditional cake, I would have understood. But with the lame excuse of it being "too dark" (because the depths of the ocean are so bright) and the logo not being front and center? Erm, what? As if the people standing at the shark event eating the shark cake weren't going to know it was for the shark event?

Ultimate Cake Off has the potential to be a fun show that gives us more of what we love about Cake Boss--watching talented artists create amazing edible sculpture. I just hope that they find a way for this competition to be move away from the more negative tone, with harsh judges and back-stabbing contestants. The premiere episode had contestants who just wanted to make a beautiful cake and please the client, and get some rewards for their hard work. That's not a bad premise for a show at all.

Watch Ultimate Cake Off on TLC, Monday nights at 10/9c beginning August 31. Check your local listings for the abundance of repeat showings of the premiere episode, "Shark Summer".

PHOTOS: Ultimate Cake Off contestants Ashley, Tariq, and Richard, c2009 Eric Biermann, TLC.

Cake Boss -- "A Blindfold, a Bikini, and Breathing Fire"

Mauro Castano works on the fire-breathing Tiki cake, on Cake Boss.

Tonight's Cake Boss episode, "A Blindfold, a Bikini, and Breathing Fire", once again included two fantastic cakes and some light-hearted competition amongst the Cake Boss staff. First up was a client who throws a big birthday bash every year, and challenges Buddy to top himself each year with a bigger and more challenging cake design request.

This year it's going to be a Tiki-themed party, and the client wants a Tiki mask cake with fire incorporated somehow. A fire-breathing cake is no easy task, but Buddy's got an inspired idea--to combine a real life firebreather with a cake Tiki mask.

It's a complicated design, on a large cake that has to feed over 100 people. Buddy and his Cake Boss crew get to work making the cake, filling and icing it, and then building little Tiki idols and pinapples and tropical flowers. The centerpiece is a large Tiki mask, made with wooden supports covered in rice crispie treats and cake. Buddy inserts a metal cylinder into the Tiki mask's mouth, then covers the whole thing in icing and fondant--and strong wishes that it will all hold together.

The finished cake is huge and dramatic, with lit torches at all four corners. The partygoers and client enjoy the cake, but Buddy is excited because he can tell they have no idea how much cooler (or hotter!) it's all going to get. When it's time to serve the cake, Buddy introduces the firebreather. This talented (and crazy, as Buddy claims) guy holds a flaming stick in front of the Tiki mask, then blows through the opening, making the flames erupt forth in a rush. It's a fantastic effect, and looks as if the Tiki mask is definitely breathing fire.

The crowd goes wild, and Buddy is pleased that he's met yet another challenge.

Daniella the artiste gets a lot of credit for the second Cake Boss project. Buddy introduces "My cousin Vinny" (Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei, anyone?), who's ordering a cake for his wife-to-be for the bridal shower. Vinny wants one of their signature "luggage" cakes, but it's not long before the bride's mother and sister (Buddy's mother-in-law and wife) show up to change the order.

Buddy can't go against his wife, so he changes the order. He's upset that they didn't all consult together before placing the order, however. I feel sorry for Vinny, who seemed so excited about actually making some decisions about the cake's design.

The shower is a jewelry theme, so Buddy sets Daniella up with an ornate jewelry stand--a gold frame and vintage style burgundy dress. Daniella went to art school and did a lot of sculpting there, so she's an expert with the modeling chocolate. She whips up a near-identical replica of the jewelry stand, with patterned cloth and gorgeous folds of material and little delicate flowers. Buddy is impressed, and it's the crowning jewel of the multi-tiered cake.

The Cake Boss crew also whips up edible jewelry, a purse, and a gorgeous black high-heeled shoe to adorn the cake. There are screenprinted pictures and added embellishments and the cake is absolutely gorgeous. Buddy's happy that the cake fits perfectly into the party decor and that the guests all love the result. Even poor out-voted cousin Vinny.

In the middle of all the hustle and bustle of Carlo's bakery, Buddy hears that Mauro's complaining about all the work to be done. Buddy chastises him for whining about an easy job like icing the cake, and says he could do it blindfolded. So they make a bet--if Buddy can ice a cake blindfolded, with a flower on top, Mauro has to don a grass skirt and coconut bra and serve pastries to the guests in the bakery. If Buddy can't, then he has to wear the skirt and bra. Mauro agrees.

Despite all the work Mauro was complaining about, the Cake Boss crew gathers around as Buddy ices the cake blindfolded. He starts with a small, two-tier round cake. He gets the icing on the sides and the top, and smooths it all out. He then adds icing trim around the perimeter of the top tier. He gets definite oohs and ahhs of approval from the Cake Boss crew when he even forms a perfect flower for the top--and mounts it without screwing up any of the icing.

The finished product isn't perfect, but it's shockingly good, and Mauro's forced to accept defeat. In a white tee-shirt and his white baker's pants, with an added grass skirt and shell bra, Mauro joins the rest of the crew downstairs to hand out Hawaiian leis and cupcakes. Everyone has a laugh, and Buddy is happily surprised by how well the customers respond. So a cake-frosting dare turns out to be an entertaining event for everyone at Carlo's Bakery.




Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 10/9c. Check your local listings for encore showings of "A Blindfold, a Bikini, and Breathing Fire" and other repeat episodes.

PHOTOS: Mauro Castano works on the Tiki cake, Cake Boss, c2009 Libby Klein, TLC; Daniella Storzillo sculpts a dragon head on a previous Cake Boss episode, screencap c2009 TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Soldiers, Sand, and Salad"

Every time I think I've seen it all on Cake Boss, Buddy and his crew top themselves. Tonight, on "Soldiers, Sand, and Salad", Buddy Valastro and the Cake Boss bakers work on an FAO Schwarz-inspired cake for the birthday party of four year old twins. Buddy and the crew first go to FAO Schwarz itself to get inspired by all the toys and displays, including the famous giant piano keys featured in the film Big, and large toy soldiers made of jelly beans.

Buddy makes his toy soldiers out of rice crispie treats and pound cake. You can see in the photo above how Mauro and Buddy stacked up the cakes onto a wooden form, and glued it all together with icing to make giant towers. The Buddy carved the cake into the right form for the soldier.

Next, the towers were wrapped with bands of fondant and modeling chocolate. Buddy was excited as it began to take shape and look more like soldiers. Shoes were made for the feet, little hands were molded, then cut-out fondant for eyes, nose and mustaches. Once the soldiers were complete, they were steamed, which smoothed the frosting and made it shine like toy paint.

The Cake Boss crew made piano keys across the back half of the cake, while the soldeirs stood sentry at the front. Then a myriad of formed toys were added, like teddy bears, blocks, a train, cars, robots, and balloons. All these were scattered over the piano keys and at the soldiers' feet. Once again, all was steamed to make a beautiful sheen.

Buddy and three of the Cake Boss boys carried the cake through FAO Schwarz, and up an escalator to the party room at the toy store. The kids were all enthralled by the display and immediately touched it--probably not realizing or believing that it was a cake and not real toys! Buddy wished the boys happy birthday and got happy thanks in return, which is always the best part of Buddy's day.

The second cake of the "Soldiers, Sand, and Salad" episode was a beach scene for a beach club anniversary event. The Cake Boss crew had fun with this one, using brown sugar for sand and a colored sugary gel over icing to get the clear blue water effect for the ocean. The girls modeled beachgoers out of modeling chocolate, including a guy with a hairy chest and big sunburned belly. Buddy admired the buxom bikini-clad sunbather and said, "I think she's had some work done."

When complete, the beach scene had a lifeguard, wooden planks to walk across the hot sand, sunbathers, swimmers, and sandcastles. Toys and large beach umbrellas dotted the landscape. I love that all of the Cake Boss cakes have a realistic variety of people in all shapes, colors, and sizes. When complete, it was truly and authentic version of the beach, and the partygoers absolutely loved it. The men who had commissioned the cake were overwhelmed at the detail.

No matter how many great cakes we see of Buddy's, it never gets old, and he and his crew continually top themselves with creativity, elegance, and humor on a grand scale.

The sideline part of this week's episode, "Soldiers, Sand, and Salad", was Buddy challenging his four sisters to a competition in weight loss. He bet that he and three of his guys would lose more weight than the girls.

Buddy thought this would be an easy win for him and the Cake Boss guys, and quite frankly, I thought he'd win as well. It's a known fact that men lose weight easier and faster than women, and guys as big as Frankie can usually drop ten pounds without even breaking a sweat.

Tone Tone kept track of all the numbers, and the competition was fairly decided by percentage of body weight, rather than mere poundage. As I suspected, the Cake Boss guys lost a good bit of weight, especially Frankie who dropped fifteen pounds. But to Buddy's and my surprise, the girls did just as well, and lost a full percentage point more in body weight than the guys.

The girls were thrilled, especially as winning the contest meant the guys would have to work the counter downstairs at Carlo's Bakery for a full day and wait on customers. (One of the sisters also ordered Tone Tone to tear up the evidence of all their weights.) Buddy was a good sport about it, saying he was glad they'd all lost some weight to be healthier.

I suspect the girls lost a lot of weight due to their extremely attractive trainer at the gym, and the Cake Boss boys didn't do as well as they caved in to cravings when dealing with all the baked goods. "It's just a biscotti," they said. "What could be in there?"

Enough calories to lose a competition, apparently.

Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 10/9c. Check your local listings for encore showings and other Cake Boss episode repeats.

PHOTOS: Buddy Valastro and Mauro Castano work on the forms for the toy soldiers; Christine Campanelli carefully molds a sunbathing beauty out of modeling chocolate; Cake Boss, "Soldiers, Sand, and Salad", c2009 Libby Klein, TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Museum, Mistakes,and Mother Mary"

Tonight's episode of Cake Boss, "Museum, Mistakes, and Mother Mary" was jam-packed with cake-making pressure. To be part of the Cake Boss crew, you not only have to be creative and skilled, you have to be strong emotionally and physically.

This week, cousin Frankie talks to Buddy about taking on more responsibility. He wants to move ahead with cake making instead of just being as sister Mary says: "Buddy's bitch." Buddy agrees, but he's not making it easy on Frankie--the customer is Mary and the event is for her daughter.

Buddy feels it's the perfect test--a difficult customer, but if he messes up, it's still family and they won't have angered a paying client. He lets Mary know he'll help Frankie out if he needs it.

Once Frankie gets the gig, we can tell he's wondering if he made the right decision. When he decides to do scanned pictures of ballerinas, he realizes immediately that he's no artist. He gets one of the gal decorators to help him draw a ballerina that actually looks like a girl.

Aside from that, Frankie does the cake all on his own. The finished piece is a chocolate and vanilla multi-layered round cake with purple stars and ballerinas dancing around the middle, with beautiful purple flowers.

Talk about pressure. When Mary tells her young daughter that Uncle Buddy didn't make the cake, Uncle Frankie did, the little girl gets a scared and skeptical look similar to the one her mother had at the consultation. Frankie starts sweating. But then the cake is brought out and Mary's daughter is all delighted smiles, and that's all the affirmation Frankie needs.

Buddy gets his good nature tested in "Museum, Mistakes, and Mother Mary", over two mishaps. The first is when he completes a sweet 16 birthday party cake and then the Cake Boss boys drop it on the way down the stairs. No part of the cake is salvaged, and there is barely time to make a new one.

Buddy allows himself a few moments of anger, but then it's on to business. He calls the entire team away from whatever they're doing, and the whole Cake Boss staff works on redoing the cake. It's a fairly elaborate cake, with a city skyline around the middle, sand and bikinis around the bottom, shopping decor at the top, and bright colors everywhere. Buddy is proud when they complete a whole new cake in a mere hour and a half.

The guest of honor, who looked scarily more like a bored Paris Hilton than a fresh-faced 16-year-old at the consultaton, thankfully squeals with teenagery delight upon seeing the cake. Buddy and the crew are relieved that the cake got done well and was still delivered on time.

Throughout the episode, Buddy and the Cake Boss crew worked on a giant masterpiece to celebrate a new display of the Indricotherium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A large replica of the Indricotherium has been made, guided by fossils found in the 20s, and the museum wants Buddy to make a replica of the giant mammal for the celebratory cake.

Buddy and the Cake Boss crew visit the Indricotherium display at the museum to get ideas. Then it's back to the bakery to build an enormous cake that hopefully won't collapse in on itself. We the audience watch in awe as Buddy makes a wooden frame for the body and then they start spackling on icing and cake to make the giant body.

Buddy wigs out again when it turns out the cakes haven't been taken out of the freezer. They'll have to thaw before he can start putting the cake together, which wastes a lot of time. Buddy is not happy.

But the Cake Boss crew moves on, using PVC pipe and fondant to make trees, butter cream frosting for wavy green grass, and chocolate cookie crumbs for dirt. Buddy uses pound cake after pound cake to make the Indricotherium body, and then it's all layered with fondant, expertly etched to show the texture of its skin, then dusted with colored edible powder. The Cake Boss crew even adds toenails to the feet, not skimping on a single detail.

Buddy also has the girls make up a cave man to show the massive scale of the animal, though I'm thinking he's created an anachronism. The museum staff don't seem to mind as they cheer for the cake as its brought in, marveling over the massive cake sculpture that Buddy guesses weighs about 400 pounds. With four guys carrying it and nearly dropping it on the way into the truck, I don't think he was exaggerating.

Once again Buddy and the Cake Boss crew whip up creative gold and wow their delighted customers.

Watch Cake Boss on TLC on Monday nights at 10/9c. Check your local listings for encore showings and repeats.

PHOTOS: Cousin Frankie, sister Mary, and the Cake Boss, Buddy, c2009 TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Doves, Ducks, and Delicacies"

Cake Boss episode "Doves, Ducks, and Delicacies" was a lot of fun, with amazing cake-making feats and nuttiness from the Cake Boss crew.

Buddy starts out with a consultation for an engaged couple, who want a dove on their cake as a nod to their family's previous live-dove wedding cake. Buddy gets excited about this, and offers to make the actual old school cake that contains live doves. The couple seems a bit startled by the idea, but Buddy reassures them and they agree to put their trust in him.

As usual, Buddy is a man with a plan. He's got a multi-tiered cake with Tuscan style roses and grapes in mind, and as a center tier they'll be a little clear box that contains the live dove lovebirds.

Watching the cake making process on Cake Boss is jaw-dropping. Like any trade skill, you've got to have the right tools for the job, and this bakery's got tools like you've never seen. There are huge ovens, automated rolling pins, spinning platforms, and carving tools and forms to create flowers and leaves out of dough. Pastry dough gets stretched over a long table like fabric, then cut and molded like clay into art. Who knew cake making could be so exciting? Cake Boss is truly riveting as we watch the masters at work.

The masters at work can also be funny, as they attempt to find live doves for the cake. A miscommunication on the phone leads to Buddy opening a box to discover two snow white wedding love...ducks. Buddy's willing to laugh about it, but he's got a giant cake with no love birds in it that needs to go to a wedding.

While the bakery boys make more phone calls for doves, Buddy shows the gals how to make the handpainted roses and leaves for the ivy. It's time-consuming, and there has to be a lot of leaves to make ivy, so everyone pitches in. We get a sense of Buddy's perfectionism as he discusses the creation of the roses, noting that each one must be not only realistic but also unique--as real roses are. So petals are bent in a different way, some buds are closed, while others open, etc. This is part of what makes his cakes so special--the incredible attention to detail.

Buddy's extra proud of his creation, and excited about presenting it at the wedding. Frank rides in the back of the truck with the cake (dismantled into three parts) and the doves to make sure the birds travel safely. The cake is put together before the start of the reception, but the birds are only added shortly before the cake cutting.

As often happens with weddings, the dove releasing doesn't go exactly as planned. The happy couple has trouble getting the birds to leave their new cosy home, and Buddy has to jump in and help them retrieve the doves. As everyone laughs and then applauds as the birds fly up toward the vaulted ceiling, we see that things don't need to go perfectly for everyone to have a good time. The love birds actually end up roosting together on top of a pillar, and the voiceover lets us know the doves were later returned safely to the pet store.

The second part of Cake Boss: Doves, Ducks, and Delicacies tonight was a special delivery of pastries from a husband to his pregnant wife. Buddy was happy to hear of the wife's frequently professed love and cravings for Carlo's Bakery pastries. He whipped up an impressive batch of extra large "lobster tails", an infinitely layered pastry that's stuffed with a custard/whipped cream combo, as well as other traditional Italian delights and a few chocolate dipped strawberries. The thrilled mother-to-be nearly fainted at the sight of the gorgeous array of pastries, and Buddy once again felt the joy of making others happy.

Tune in to Cake Boss on TLC Monday nights at 10/9c. Next week we'll see what I've been fearing from day one--the boys drop one of the finished cakes!

Check out my previous Cake Boss post to see the newly added photo of Toni, Daniella, and Tone Tone molding stripper men for the bachelorette party cake!




PHOTOS: Merlin, "The Tears of Uther Pendragon" screencaps, c2010 Shine, BBC Wales, BBC, SyFy.

PHOTOS: Buddy Valastro works on his prize birdcage cake; the carefully formed roses waiting to be adorn the birdcage cake, c2009 Libby Klein, TLC.

Cake Boss -- "Undead, Unclothed, and Unhappy Mama"

The Cake Boss Crew (l to r): Toni Walton, Stephanie Fernandez, Tony Albanese, Buddy Valastro, Violet Valentin, Christine Campanelli, Daniella Storzillo, and Frank Amato.

You all just have to check out TLCs new documentary series Cake Boss. Each week we follow cake artisan Buddy Valastro as he creates one-of-a-kind cakes, with the help of his large and boisterous Italian family, for their bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. Turns out the show is not only intriguing and awe-inspiring--the cake designs are truly works of great sculpture--but it's also a riot.

Buddy and his mom, sisters, brothers-in-law and friends at Carlo's Bakery are a lot of fun to spend time with. Sure, there are some family squabbles, but it's kind of like Joey on Friends getting in trouble with his lookalike pack of sisters. Cake Boss has a good-natured slant, with family members joking around and playing pranks on one another in between working together to finish their latest projects.

You wouldn't necessarily think of cake-making as a stressful job, but Carlo's Bakery is nonstop action every day, with orders pouring in every hour. When you're dealing with food, you can't make anything that far in advance, so every cake by nature is made on a deadline. There's little time for screw-ups or do-overs. And some of Buddy's clients have outrageous and ambitious requests, all of which have to be planned meticulously and completed in a short amount of time.

This week's episode of Cake Boss, "Undead, Unclothed, and Unhappy Mama", included two gals wanting a graphic stripper scene for their friend's bachelorette party, and a couple wanting a graphic, violent zombie cake for their Zombie Walk event celebration.

Buddy tells us that he's used to making wedding cakes and pretty flowers, so the zombie request is a bit out of his element. He works with his crew for ideas and they manage to come up with a workable idea for a zombie climbing out of a grave, complete with dead rats and body parts and blood strewn all around.

It's amazing to watch as the Cake Boss crew puts this giant cake together, forming the headstone out of pound cake and icing and coating it with gray fondant, then building an entirely edible zombie bursting out of a red velvet cake ground covered in chocolate sprinkles to simulate dirt. It's a gory, terrifying monster cake and the zombie crowd goes crazy for it--literally. Buddy looks a little startled as partygoers decked out in full zombie gear start pulling the mock body parts off of the cake and gobbling them up with dramatic zombie-like flair.

The second and most hilarious part of the episode involved the stripper cake. Buddy blushed as his female clients described how well-endowed they wanted these cake strippers to be and for it to be as raunchy as possible. Buddy let them and us know that it had to be done "on the sneak", because Buddy's mom doesn't want any "erotic, exotic, whatever!" cakes to be made in her store.

Buddy tells the Cake Boss crew about the proposal and then comes up with a game plan. Each one of the girls will create a naked stripper man, and the guys can concentrate on making the stage. Then he decides that his cake artist protege Tone Tone, who's related to the bachelor party girls, should make a stripper as well. Tone Tone, he rationalizes, is gay, and has no doubt been to a few strip joints and it's his referral after all.

It's an outrageous scene as we watch the girls and Tone Tone modeling little naked men out of modelling chocolate. But Buddy reminds us that it's also a challenging task--the people they usually create for cakes are clothed, so if they don't look exactly right, the clothes will cover it. These little cake men have to be perfectly shaped and sculpted and anatomically correct.

The big laugh comes when Buddy notices Tone Tone's stripper is so well endowed that...well, they blur out the screen, but we get the idea that this stripper is nearly literally a tripod. No doubt this will be a hit at the bachelorette party, but then Buddy's mother walks in and sees all the naked stripper cake men and goes ballistic.

Buddy and his brothers-in-law, all big Italian men, all turn into hunched little boys as Buddy's mom yells at them that Buddy's the cake boss, but she's the Boss. And that they can't make the cake unless they have some clothes on the cake men.

Bowing to Mom's wishes, the sisters all start creating little cowboy outfits, G-strings and boxer shorts for the strippers. In the meantime, Buddy and the rest of the guys create tiles for the stage floor, dipping them in colored sugar to make them sparkle. All seems to be going well when Mom sees the clothed stripper men, but then she opens the cake refrigerator and finds Tone Tone's still-naked stripper man staring her right in the face.

The whole Cake Boss crew falls over with laughter at her howling, shocked reaction, and even she has to laugh. "They're going to have to cut half of that off just to get pants on him!" she exclaims.

Buddy finds the perfect solution. He covers the shocking stripper with an apron, which he removes when they bring the cake to the bachelorette party. Thus, he gives them what they want, while the rest of the costumed strippers made his conservative mom happy. Buddy is once again startled, but pleased at the bachelorette party's enthusiastic reaction to his cake. "You'd think I brought actual strippers!"

Which brings us to the theme of Cake Boss: There's madness, mayhem, wild creativity under extreme pressure, but what it all comes down to is making the customer happy. Buddy's joy comes from seeing the happiness his creations bring to others, and that's not a bad theme for a show to have.




Watch Cake Boss on TLC, Monday nights at 10/9c. Check your local listings for encore showings during the week.

PHOTOS: Cake Boss crew; Buddy looks on as Daniella works on the zombie cake; Toni Walton, Daniella Storzillo, and Tony "Tone Tone" Albanese work on the male stripper cake for a bachelorette party, Cake Boss, c2009 TLC.