Next Great Baker

            Aside from Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro has another show known as the Next Great Baker.  Buddy has had two successful seasons of this show on TLC.  This show has several contestants all of which have baking or cooking experience.  On the show these contestants compete against one another in several challenges.  This show is similar to American Idol because each week at least one contestant is eliminated.  There are three judges that decide who should go home.  Of course Buddy is one the judges along with two others that change on a weekly basis.  Buddy’s mom, sisters, and some of his cousins from the bakery have been the other judges on the show. 

            Each week Buddy presents a challenge to his contestants.  The challenges are always very fun to watch.  I think it is entertaining to watch the bakers under pressure make decorated cakes and desserts.  Some of them turn out really neat and professional, while others do not.

            The contestants are judged on their cakes’ taste, texture, appearance, and creativity.  Buddy is very serious about his cake and is a very tough critiquing judge. 

            The last person left after all the others have been eliminated is the winner.  The winner receives $50,000 cash and gets to work alongside with Buddy on Cake Boss for a year.

            Buddy wants the best baker to work with him.  He does not want someone who is rude, lazy, and sloppy working with him and his family in the bakery.

            Like all reality T.V. shows the Next Great Baker is full of drama and competition.  I for one get drawn into a T.V. show that has drama.  It is entertaining and leaves you wondering what will happen next. 

            The Next Great Baker and Cake Boss are great shows to watch with your family.  If you do not believe me then you will just have to watch them and see for yourself what you are missing.    

Lackawanna

            Over the years Carlos Bakery has been doing better than ever.  Buddy and his family are always very busy.  They have a lot that they have to manage.  Buddy has to help take care of his family, run the bakery, and take time to make the Cake Boss episodes.  On top of all that he and his family are constantly baking and selling their cakes and pastries to hundreds of customers that are waiting in line every day. 

            On Cake Boss the phone is always ringing. Customers call to set up a time to come in and talk with Buddy.  No matter how busy Buddy may be he always makes time for each and every one of his customers.  Buddy could be in the middle of making one of his signature cakes and he will stop what he is doing to go have his meeting with his customer.

            About a year or two ago Buddy and his family came to realize that Carlos Bakery is not big enough for all the large cakes they make as well as for the many different pastries they bake.  They were running out of room in the refrigerators, the ovens, and the cooling racks.  Buddy and his family took some time to seek out a new place where they could expand.  In time Buddy and his family found a great place to open a bakery in Lackawanna. 

            They decided to keep Carlos Bakery to make the smaller cakes and all of the pastries.  Besides, hundreds of people stop by the bakery every day because Cake Boss has become so popular.  There are so many special memories at Carlos Bakery for Buddy and his family.    They use the new bakery to make the larger cakes.  The new bakery looks very nice on Cake Boss.  The refrigerators are enormous and the ovens are gigantic.   Buddy is thrilled to have so much more space to make and keep the cakes before they get delivered. 

            If I was Buddy I’m not sure if I would be able to handle all of the responsibilities of running a bakery.  I think it would be pretty stressful at times.  I don’t know how Buddy manages it all, but one way or another he does.  He never lets you down.            

Life Size Cakes

When customers go to Carlos Bakery and explain to Buddy the cake they would like, he gets a BIG vision of the cake in his head.  On Cake Boss some people might ask for a racecar cake, a rocket cake, or a hockey cake.  Most of the time the customers envision that the cake will be average size and will either look similar to what they are asking for or will be a small version of it.  Buddy’s goal for the cake is to make it life size and to look as real as possible.  The customers always love his ideas and are always very eager to see their cake.  The T.V. viewers are just as eager.

            Buddy has made a wide variety of life size cakes.  When thinking about which cakes I should write about I had a hard time choosing which cakes I liked best.  I chose three that I thought were pretty cool.

            The largest cake that Buddy and his family have ever made was a NASCAR cake.  When Buddy was asked to make a cake for the Charlotte Motor Speedway he decided that he wanted to make a life size cake replica of a NASCAR.  I didn’t think it was possible to make a cake as big as this one turned out.  On the show Buddy said this cake contained over 2,500 sheet cakes!  This cake looked exactly like a NASCAR the only real way to tell the difference would be by touch.

Layers of sheet cake for the car

 

            For many of the larger cakes Buddy uses plywood for the main base.  He covers all the wood with fondant.  Buddy is so good at what he does no one knows what’s really under parts of the fondant.  Before Buddy and his family start baking a cake they take time to think and come up with a plan for the cake.  First Buddy and his family sketch out the cake so there is a plan to follow.

            Another cake that I thought was interesting was a hockey table cake.  This was not an ordinary cake.  You could eat and play the cake.  Buddy was asked to make a hockey table cake for two boys' b'nai mitzvah.  His idea was to make a bubble hockey table.  Buddy used plywood for the base to make the shape of the table.  This was a pretty big cake as well.  Buddy filled the base with 30 sheets of cake.  He then used fondant to cover the cake and add details.  The head sculptor formed hockey players out of modeling chocolate.  I thought it was neat how Buddy’s cousin Frankie was able to make the players move just like a real bubble hockey table would. 

Buddy's sketch

            This next cake was a birthday for a cow, yes a real cow.  Buddy and the crew went to Klein Farms to see some of the cows to help get some ideas for the cake.  The owner of the farm wanted Buddy to make him a cake for his favorite cow Eden.  Eden was turning 10 years old and her owner threw her a party.  A party for a cow is a little odd, but the cake was most definitely not odd at all.  Buddy had two of his cousins build the structure for the cow cake.  Then he had one of his sculptors carve a cows head and neck out of rice krispies treats.  Those parts would be finished off with modeling chocolate.  Buddy wanted the udders of this cow cake to be able to milk real milk.  No doubt about that Buddy and his family were able to make it work.  This cow looked just like Eden.  It was truly a life size replica of her!   

            Buddy and his family are always able to amaze me with the cakes they make. The life size cakes are truly amazing!

Cakes for Celebs

     Everyone likes having cake at a party or special event. A lot of the cakes Buddy has made have been for famous people.  A few of the ones that I think are interesting are when Buddy and his family made a cake for Snooki, The Regis and Kelly show, and Rachel Ray.

     Snooki from the show Jersey Shore came into Carlos Bakery hoping that Buddy could make her a cake.  She told Buddy that the cake would be for her mom and that she hadn’t seen her in a long time.  Snooki wanted half of the cake to represent her mom and the other half to represent her.  Buddy asked her questions to find out what kinds of things Snooki and her mom like.  This cake turned out really cool.  The half of the cake that represented Snooki’s mom was decorated with a modeling chocolate figure of her mom gardening with bright assorted flowers.  The other half was decorated with modeling chocolate figures of Snooki and her guy friends that she refers to as her “Gorillas.”  The figures looked like they were fist pumping on the Jersey shore.  When Buddy and his family delivered Snooki her cake, she and her family were thrilled with how great and realistic the cake turned out.

     Another famous person that Buddy made a cake for was Regis from the Regis and Kelly show.  Regis was actually invited to come to the bakery for a day and observe Buddy and his family at work.  Buddy had Regis try to decorate a cake of his own.  Let’s just say decorating cakes wasn’t Regis’s specialty.  Buddy made a cake for Regis and Kelly and delivered it on their show.  He made a three-D cake that looked just like Regis and Kelly.  He made each separate and incorporated detail that resembled each of them.  The cakes were a big hit. The cast and guests said it tasted great!

     This next celebrity loves to cook and has her own show, Rachel Ray.  Rachel went to Carlos Bakery and explained to Buddy that her five year wedding anniversary is coming up soon.  She told him that on her next show she wanted to surprise her husband with a cake made by Buddy and his family to celebrate.  Rachel showed Buddy a picture of a castle in Italy where she and her husband got married.  She told him that about 130 people would be at the show.  Buddy immediately came up with a plan for the cake.  He wanted to make a replica of the castle.  Buddy did just that.  It turned out amazing! The cake looked exactly like the picture Rachael showed Buddy.  Her husband was so surprised when he saw the cake. 

     Carlos Bakery is becoming more famous every day.  More and more celebrities are coming to Buddy asking for one of Buddy’s specialty cakes.  Buddy is always up for the challenge!!  

Cakes with Special Effects

            Almost everyone loves special effects because of the action, motion, and excitement.  But did you ever think a cake could have all three?  Well Buddy’s cakes on Cake Boss do!

            I can remember the first time I ever watched Cake Boss.  I was amazed by the different things Buddy and his family could make a cake do.

            When I watched Cake Boss the first time and heard what the clients wanted their cake to be able to do, I thought there is no way that Buddy or anyone could make a cake with elaborate effects.  Buddy proved me wrong.  He makes cakes with all of the requested special effects and he adds so much more.

            Two of my favorite special effect cakes that Buddy made on Cake Boss are a circus and cruise ship cake.  The Ringling Brothers. & Barnum and Bailey Circus asked Buddy if he could make them a cake.  The head clown told Buddy that he wanted the cake to be very realistic including a ring of fire.  Of course Buddy and his family included all of that and much more.  The cake he made included all of the acts, clowns, and animals that you would see at the circus.  The special effects Buddy put on the cake were a ring of fire and cannons that shot out circus people made out of fondant.  The Ringling Brothers. & Barnum and Bailey Circus were so pleased with Buddy’s outstanding work.

            My next favorite special effect cake is a cruise ship.  Buddy and his whole family went on a Disney Cruise.  Buddy was asked to make a cake for the ship.  The cake he made was huge!  He made a cake replica of the cruise ship.  The Disney ship has an awesome water tube slide called AquaDuck.  The AquaDuck goes out over the ocean and wraps onto the ship.  Buddy used special tubing to make the AquaDuck and put it on the cake.  He added water with blue food coloring that moved throughout the slide.  It was amazing to see it all put together.  It looked so real!

If you don’t believe me you will just have to watch the show and see for yourself how extreme some of the special effects can be!

Here Comes The Bride

            Almost everyone is a fan of wedding cakes, but you haven’t seen anything until you watch Cake Boss!  Buddy is known for his beautiful, elegant, and unique wedding cakes.  First, Buddy meets with his clients and is determined to get the customer’s full story.  He wants to know how long they have been together, what their likes and dislikes are, and of course Buddy asks them to describe what kind of wedding cake they would like.

            After Buddy gathers the information from the clients, he then takes time to discuss it with the other bakers.  Together they come up with an idea that is everything the client asked for and much more. When Buddy makes wedding cakes he likes to have the cake tell a story about the clients. 

            Every wedding cake that Buddy and his bakers make are very different from any others they have made in the past.  Buddy makes floral, modern, buttercream, and hall wedding cakes.  He even makes vintage wedding cakes with bridges. 

            His father taught him how to make wedding cakes with bridges linking to one another.  The bridges symbolize two different families joining together as one. 

            The decorations on the wedding cakes are all edible.  Buddy and his crew are so good at what they do that people are always amazed by how real everything looks.  The flowers are so realistic and bring the cakes to life.

            Some of the wedding cakes are decorated with edible pictures made out of fondant.  Buddy uses the pictures to help tell the story of the bride and groom.  His specialty is making assorted flowers out of fondant.  On the show Buddy explains that making the flowers is a very difficult skill that takes much time to learn and become proficient.

            I love all the different wedding cakes Buddy makes on Cake Boss.  I love seeing the different piping techniques he uses as well as colors and details he puts into making beautiful wedding cakes.  When your big day comes, remember that Buddy is the baker for you!   

Mia Familia

Buddy and his family

            If you think you have a big loud family just wait until you hear about Buddy’s. Almost all of the workers at Carlos Bakery are members of Buddy’s family.  Buddy comes from a big, loud, and very Italian family.

Buddy's wife Lisa

            Buddy has a wife Lisa who is always very supportive of Buddy and his work.  They have four children.  Their oldest Sofia is 7 years old, then Bartolo 'Buddy' Jr. is 6, and Marco is 4. Their brand new addition to the family, Carlo will be 1 on February 14, 2012.  On some of the episodes Buddy brings his kids with him to the bakery to both watch and learn while he makes some of the cakes. 

Marco and Buddy Jr.

Sofia

Baby Carlo



            Carlos Bakery is a family owned business.  Buddy is very fortunate to have his mom and his four sisters working at the bakery with him.  Not only do his sisters work at the bakery, but their husbands do too.  Buddy even has cousins working alongside him at the bakery. 

Buddy's mom

Buddy's sister Grace

Buddy's sister Madeline

Buddy's sister Mary

Buddy's sister Lisa

            Grace Faugno is Buddy’s oldest sister and she is married to Joey Faugno.  Joey is one of the top bakers/cake decorators at Carlos bakery.  Along with Grace, Buddy’s other sisters are Madeline, Mary, and Lisa.  They all work down in the bakery selling pastries to the customers and answering the phone to take orders.  Buddy’s right hand man is Mauro Castano.  He works in the decorating room and is married to Madeline.

Joey

Mauro

Buddy's cousin Frankie

             Buddy was 11 years old when he began working at the bakery alongside is dad.  He learned all he knows about running a bakery from his dad.  He also learned many different cake techniques and styles as well.   When Buddy was 17 his dad passed away and he took on the job to continue to run the bakery. 

            On the show Buddy and his family are always together.  Whether they are working at the bakery or together for a big Italian party, they do everything together.  Like most families they don’t always see eye to eye but at the end of the day they are still a family.

            After watching a few episodes of Cake Boss I noticed that Buddy has many sayings and phrases of his own.  For instance he loves to say “this is Carlos Bakery, this is the crew, mia familia!”  Obviously family is very important to Buddy.