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TLC’s Cake Boss – Not Ace of Cakes Jersey-Style

May 25, 2009
Scott Mindeaux, Editor

39 Disguised Foodies commented on this...

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Tonight was the premiere of Cake Boss on TLC. I almost didn’t watch cuz I didn’t want to watch an Ace of Cakes copycat show. This show is not that.

This is the story of Buddy Valastro (seen numerous times on cake challenges on the Food Network) and his family business, Carlos’ Bake Shop. Carlos’ Baker shop was owned by Buddy’s dad, Buddy Sr. who past away when buddy was 17 years old. Buddy took over the family business and things haven’t been the same ever since. Buddy runs the cake shop with his wife, mom, his four sisters, three of his brother-in-laws, a cousin and some assorted characters.

Tonight’s episode started off with the “team meeting” about the week’s work schedule. Oh uh….feels like Ace of Cake. But that’s where the similarities end. The 30-minute show is more about the relationships of an Italian family in New Jersey. Buddy has a large family that are very vocal about what they think and it makes for a show full of alot of shouting while getting snips about some of the cakes and pastries made that week. The cake stories focus on the “Ace of Cake” like cakes. That’s not fair. I meant to say the cakes that are in the category of showy/reality-like cakes that Ace of Cakes has helped to bring to the forefront of current cake stylings.

I’m not sure if I will watch it on a regular basis, but I have added it to my TiVo schedule. I’ll give it a couple more episodes before I make a decision if this show is about cakes or about the musings of a large Italian family! :)

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39 Comments »

  • loraNo Gravatar said:

    I enjoyed the show first, until I saw how he treated his delivery guy, and after that dumped water and flour on him…I felt so bad for that delivery guy!

  • Aerielle Grace DodsonNo Gravatar said:

    Dear buddy I am 9 years old. tell little Sophia I said hi. I think that cake boss is the best show on tv.When everything is boring on tv I just watch cake boss.My birthday is August 22 2000.I lerned what fandon ,ganash, and modeling chocolate is by just watching cake boss.
    Have a nice day .To Buddy and crew love Aerielle.

  • helenNo Gravatar said:

    hi buddy i love your show so much that i want my son in law to drive me to your bakery just so i can meet you and get some your cakes everytime your on the food networks challenges i say buddy has to win and when you do not i get mad at the judges you cakes are so lovely and for those who dont like him we dont care keep it to yourselfs my family and i love him we watch it every time it on buddy god bless you and your family keep up the goo work love you

  • ToniNo Gravatar said:

    DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY ITALIANS LOVE CAKE AND PASTRIES SO MUCH AND THE ROLE OF CAKES AND PASTRIES IN THE ITALIAN CULTURE I’M DOING HOME EC AND NEED THIS INFORMATION TO PAST MY EXAM

    THANKS

  • YerNo Gravatar said:

    I love all the cakes, especially the zombie cake for the wedding! looks so real!!! all the cakes looks so awesome!!! OMG, i really am disgusted by the terrible brizezilla who ruined a beautiful cake, she just came in and complained! my goodness. that cake is expensive and i wished i have that cake for my wedding! that brizezilla just embarrassed herself on CAKE BOSS episode to all over the world! my goodness! BUDDY, I’m proud of u trying to make that loca brizezilla happy by redoing it again. even though u did a great job and she ruined it. i WISHED that CARLOS’S BAKE SHOP IS HERE IN LOS ANGELES,where everybody gonna go crazy for the awesome designs by Buddy and his family members and so am I!!!! but hey, that where Buddy’s dad builded in New jersey!!! I gotta respect that! Someday when i go visit NJ, the first thing I would do is to go visit Carlos’ Bake Shop and meet Buddy! That show inspired me and I may want to change my careeer to become a cake designer!!! I’m graduating from college in June 2010 and I really want my graduation cake to be design by them!!! they put out great ideas on how to satisfied and surprised the customer! No cake bakery can top CAKE BOSS!!!!! Love u guys!!! TO ACE OF CAKES, U CAN’T COPYCAT CAKE BOSS!!!! U know u can’t compete with CAKE BOSS!!! CAKE BOSS’ #1 baby!!!

  • chrisNo Gravatar said:

    Cake Boss ?!?!?!? Rehearsed garbage ! ” Stupid prank skit take 1 , Bridezilla ruining cake take 3!” Ace of Cakes is where it’s at.

  • rachelNo Gravatar said:

    i watch cake boss every time it is on!! it is amazing and i keep telling my parents i want him to make my graduation cake. i have so many ideas and i would fly there just to meet the amazing artists. and their food and stuff looks amazingly yummy!!

  • KrisNo Gravatar said:

    Hoju, clearly you have never been inside Carlos’s are you would not be talking like you do.. His cakes and pastries are the best I have ever had. And growing up in the NYC area i have tried some of the best. Even one of my friends, A professionally trained patry chef who works for one of the wealthiest families in NYC agrees Buddies cakes are great. And nothing interfered with their customer service, nothing! Buddy is one of the nicest people I have ever met and having a hit show and loads of money has not changed him. If there is a problem, and there rarely is, he will come talk to you and make it right.

  • Stoich91No Gravatar said:

    I love Italians, and I love cakes, so it seems that this would be a natural fit. But I love originality, and the ability to be unique, more. It is sad to see that just because Ace of Cakes pioneered the way for this industry and was successful, that others are trying to recreate that success and butchering it horribly. Those who do not see any resemblance between Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes clearly have not watched Ace of Cakes enough. I think Cake Boss is nice, but it definitely isn’t the Ace. Sorry! :)

  • LisaNo Gravatar said:

    anyone who complains about this show is a complete moron. the cakes are fun to watch to be made and the show is entertaining, and the scene where they dump flour/water on the driver was a PRANK. has anyone ever heard of a PRANK before? how about loosening the underwear out of your butt before another “Jen” or “Hoju” comments on this article. oh, and the people that are actually asking for cakes on this website are desperately wasting their time. “i am 12 years old i am adopted”. pfff.

  • JodiNo Gravatar said:

    I LOVE CAKE BOSS IWOULD LOVE TO COME ON THE SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • JohnnyNo Gravatar said:

    If you think this guy is a jerk or immature, you should watch “Hell’s Kitchen” hosted by Chef Gordon Ramsay. He’s really mean and insulting. But underneath is coarse exterior is a kind, noble man (which is why I watch his show).

  • AnitaNo Gravatar said:

    I would love to surprise my family. with a very tasty. cake filling. how do you even come up with the idea’s what to mix. and also what is the best cake recipe, pound, home made or box. I ‘am 65 and would love to surprise my family with a great cake for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
    I Love your show and record them when I’am not home to watch them. It so refreshing watching a family with so much Love and affection for each other. The Love in your family is so refreshing. A lot of my family has passed and so I really miss that great feeling.
    Love a faith full watcher, May God Bless You All.
    Anita Rocco

  • mykelleNo Gravatar said:

    I want to start off by saying i love the crew and the show. I wish i lived close by so icould get me a conolli and a cake.This show is way better than ace of cakes there cakes look really sloppy and i wouldnt bye one of them. I cant wait until next season and what you have in store. Anybody who has any thing negative to say keep it to yourself. Hojo. Keep up the good work.

  • alyssaNo Gravatar said:

    dear cake boss i am 12 years old i was adopted i was wondering if you could make me a cake for atleast 100 dollars i want you to make a sewing cake for my foster mom because she dose so much for me and this family please please please write back please!!!!!!

  • DaveNo Gravatar said:

    The blonde twenty-something upstairs is stunningly beautiful and should get a lot more airtime next season. This show needs an influx of real controversy, not cakes falling down the stairs deadlines. She is not a family member, and her presence in the bakery could create some very interesting storylines if she and the producers play it right.

  • ethanNo Gravatar said:

    cake boss is awesome you make the best cakes I wish that I can have one of your cakes

  • Patsy MillerNo Gravatar said:

    I Love Buddy,..and his show,…It is so refreshing
    to see the beautiful designs he thinks up for the cakes,..If I lived in N.Jersey,..I would be at the bakery a lot,..Maybe one day I will get the chance.
    You rock Buddy,..and so does your whole crew.

  • JessNo Gravatar said:

    LOVE LOVE LOVE this show!!! Hilarious and the cakes are amazing!

  • PhyllisNo Gravatar said:

    on a visit to Carlo’s Bakery (while on a trip to NY) the muffins were absolutely delicious and the cannoli to die for!..customers were treated more like family than strangers, so its no wonder some having been coming for 30 plus years. I’m sure some of the antics were for television, but the staff seem to genuinely care for each other and have a good time in spite of the hard work!

  • HojuNo Gravatar said:

    i would love to post this all over the web so people can read, but there arent many places that are very active/well known. anyway…

    what i hate about the show are the cakes, they are not appealing. the only people who would actually buy their cakes are ones who are absolute morons. as well as the host of the show, who is not at all professional either, ive seen him on the food network challenges, he has no artistic talent at all and thinks too much of himself. i personally have no respect for people who are not the least bit humble. and why do people go to him? low prices? or people are just complete morons? i say those are the only 2 reasons why people would go to his bakery, well there would be one more reason, if his family went there. i bet even his friends wouldnt order a cake from this guy, as long as they dont fit the first two reasons i mentioned. there are much better cake decorating bakeries out there where you can get your money’s worth. one last thing id like to mention, people who like this show are people who like to see conflict. if you like conflict so much go watch American Chopper, much better show, only when it first came out has gone down hill over the years but still fairly enjoyable to watch. cursing, screaming and building choppers, if anything Cake Boss was ripped mainly off this show and also tried to copy the talented artists that Ace of Cake has, however not all the decorators are talented. i could go on and on about how i dont like the show but my post is getting a little long so ill end it here.

    thanks for reading my long rant :)

    1 very last thing, cheap TLC rip off. shouldve gotten a better host, plenty of them out there.

  • LoriNo Gravatar said:

    I have watched every episode of Cake Boss and enjoyed it very much. You have to remember that this is entertainment. If you believe that most of the treatment of his employees,and the scenes that are set up are real you have to remember this is entertainment. Take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the stories.

  • ValNo Gravatar said:

    Daniella the sculptress seems to be the only person with talent and artistic taste employed by Buddy. She should quit and go to work for Duff over at Charm City, where the atmosphere is fun, hip, creative and intelligent, as opposed to the shrill, kitschy, Jersey-trash environment at Carlos’ Bake Shop.

  • JenNo Gravatar said:

    Ugh. We watched two episodes, and then we removed it from our DVR settings. First, no one is likeable on this show. Not Buddy, not the idiots who deliver the wrong cakes, not the lunkheads who drop cakes, not the sisters who shriek whenever they breathe. Second, the cakes don’t look all that great. Third, the mishaps are many, which leads me to wonder — why would Buddy do this show? Who would go to his bakery after seeing the behind the scenes? Fourth, it’s such an obvious attempt to copy Ace of Cakes that it’s embarrassing to even watch.

    Sad.

  • majNo Gravatar said:

    hi just want to say i love you and love your show ,i think you are so fantastic and so talentad.

  • MYANo Gravatar said:

    CAN YOU BAKE ME A CAKE IN JAN OK BYE THE WAY LOVE THE SHOW

  • RaquelNo Gravatar said:

    I’m a young child who lives in New England and I love cake boss!!!! I have NO idea where Carlos cake shop is. and my mother’s birthday is coming up in afew months,and I would love to have one of your master pieces for her surprise Birthday party!!

  • RaquelNo Gravatar said:

    I’m a young child who lives in New England and I love the show cake boss. I don’t know where Carlos

  • kathyNo Gravatar said:

    Buddy is a screaming nut most of the time. When the purse/shoe cake lost one wall during delivery he went balistic on the driver. Yelled at the driver that he must have put on the brakes. (yeah one does have to do that when driving.) Since it was the wall closest to the back of the vehicle I don’t buy it. Seems if the fallen wall was due to braking, the cake would have fallen forward toward the front of the car, not the reverse. Then Buddy throws flour and water on the driver. Very mature. Buddy needs to grow up.

  • KarenNo Gravatar said:

    I live in Baltimore and think that Duff and his team are exceptional. But I do know that their cakes start at 500.00 and it costs more for Duff to deliver the cake himself. I like the idea that I can afford to try something at Carlo’s Bakery. It is a Bakery like I grew up with! Pastries and all.

  • TyraNo Gravatar said:

    Cake Boss is very unique and diffrent from Ace of Cakes. I enjoy Buddy and his entire staff including mama. I thinl this show is fresh and exciting and give you a real view of how a bakery is operorated. ….

  • FredNo Gravatar said:

    Buddy made our wedding cake 2 years ago and met with us personally. His mother also served us cookies and coffee. The cake tasted great and looked good too, something I’m not sure Duff can achieve. Now for the negatives, the show is completely fake. Every conflict is planned. Come on, everyone in Hoboken knows that the delivery Stretch was right around the corner when the fondant peeled off. Ooh, what drama! And now the last episode when the bride put colored icing on the cake while Buddy left her alone. What acting when he came back! I’m not sure the bride was even a bride at all. It just didn’t seem real at all.

  • markNo Gravatar said:

    I have just seen an episode of Cake Boss (bridezila episode)and like it. I haven’t seen Ace of Cakes or anyother Cake Boss episodes; therefore, cant argue against the other comments. The cakes are beautiful, well constructed and highly presentable. Also the show does display alot of yelling and emotional conversation but this is classic Italian style (somewhat), individuals who haven’t grown up or associated in this envrionment will not understand it. Take it with a grain of salt. The show also reflects high achievement in the owner and his staff to perform even under pressure in a small business envrionment. Take Orange County Choppers episodes as another example. You can see the chemistry and close association in the staff and their output. I know this from experience as i also have my own small business and can relate. Everyone has their opinions and expectations and puts it forth, sometimes not appreciated or warranted; however, it is their opinions and it is valid. If the show was too professional and all about cake decorating it would be dry, boring and too technical. I would watch the show again definately.

  • AnnaNo Gravatar said:

    This show is horrible. It seems like he could care less about his cliants and anyone who works for him. It is not fun to watch because there is to much screaming.

  • AndreNo Gravatar said:

    “Cake Boss” is definitely not “Ace of Cakes,” but it does have some similarities. I agree with Jenn. The Easter bunny cake? Not good. I actually thought the bunny was a little scary. I do appreaciate that it was for charity, so yay the folks at Carlo’s.

  • JennNo Gravatar said:

    Love love love Ace of cakes I could actually consider buying one of those cakes….Buddy’s Cakes nooo…I saw the Easter cake he made on yesterdays episode and was like that is horrible like something a first year cake decorator could make….

  • Culinary CoryNo Gravatar said:

    I have to admit, I think he is such a jerk on the Food Network Challenges. I also question his level of talent as all of his cakes seemed to look the same. Since Ace of Cakes is so much likable, I think I’m going to stick with that show. I’ll leave it up to you to let me know if it’s a must see. :)

  • AllenNo Gravatar said:

    I cringed when I saw the trailer recently. There’s something about it that turns me off — at first I thought it was the Ace of Cakes copycat aspect (good to hear it’s not), but I think it’s the hot-headed, tantrum-like scenes … I’ll defer to you. Let me know if it becomes a must-see :-)

  • AliciaNo Gravatar said:

    I watched the previews of this show and decided I would not watch the show (and didn’t). I just think that Buddy is still 17 in many ways. His treatment of an employee (seen in the preview dumping water and flour on him) is so childish it just turned me off completely. I’m from NJ, but I won’t be going out of my way to visit his bakery.

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