A few days ago, a very cool invite found its way into my inbox. You see, when it comes to cable TV, my son, daughter and I (and on occasion, my husband) are officially a TLC family. From the “Long Island Medium,” to “Say Yes to the Dress” to “Cake Boss” and “Next Great Baker,” we are those viewers who can park ourselves on the couch, snuggle up and watch endless hours of TLC’s reality programming.
Two of our all time favorite TLC shows are “Cake Boss” and “Next Great Baker” so when the opportunity arose for me to meet Buddy Valastro and his family, I jumped at the chance. I even contemplated telling my kids about it but figured they wouldn’t mind. Boy was I wrong! When my daughter was heading home on the school bus, she checked her Facebook page and when she saw a photo of me standing next to Buddy, she instantly called me demanding to know why I didn’t bring home an autograph from the event. My son also was quite miffed too.
And that’s what I love about the “Cake Boss” and “Next Great Baker” (minus the kids getting mad at me part) — the shows don’t just appeal to aspiring bakers and adults who have a major sweet tooth like me, they’ve got kids hooked on all those magical cake creations. Just take a look at the Manhattan skyline cake displayed at the grand opening celebration event that featured tiny replicas of Buddy and his family…
Buddy and his entire family were on hand for the official ribbon cutting at the brand new Cake Boss Cafe located at Discovery Center Times Square (42nd Street and 8th Avenue). As we all salivated over the mouthwatering desserts, a few kids were getting ready to interview the proud owner about this exciting new addition to his ever expanding bakery empire. I was especially impressed with one tween girl who has her own cupcake blog, called the Cupcake Club with over 30,000 Facebook fans and a book series under her belt — and she’s only 10! She got to interview Buddy right before me and I’m sure he loved every minute of it.
When I asked Buddy what it feels like to have children as his biggest fans, he replied, “At the end of the day, I’m a dad of four so I can see how excited my children and their friends get in doing things if I bring them to the factory. And when I go around the country and I see a little child come up to me who wants to hug me and I can feel their heart racing and they look at me like I’m Superman. And you know what? I want to be Superman! It’s been awesome and we are really excited about being able to inspire children to want to bake.”
In a heartfelt speech Buddy gave during the ribbon cutting ceremony, he said he knew his dad would be so proud of their family because they have brought their little corner bakery to life in the heart of Times Square. You can’t beat that kind of real estate any day of the week!
Now let’s get down to the question that’s probably on the minds and tastebuds of Cake Boss lovers everywhere. We also asked Buddy if we were visiting Cake Boss Cafe for the first time, what are the three must have desserts we should try. Without hesitation, Buddy revealed, “the lobster tails, canolis and the crumb cake.”
While I’ll be sampling those goodies the next time I visit, I did get to take home a Cake Boss cake and my kids were over the moon when they got the chance to dive into it. Sure they may have missed meeting their baking idol, but they got to enjoy what he loves most – making great cakes.
“Honestly, at the end of the day I have my dream job,” says Buddy. “After all these years and all these cakes, I still enjoy making cakes. I think with the show, it helps inspire people to pursue their dreams and do what they love.”
And Buddy, just so you know – we love you and we love the new Cake Boss Cafe! To find out more visit CakeBossCafe.com. And check out this video below…
Role Mommy 3.0