Cake Boss: Sweet 16, FBI, Deli, Communion

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

While there was a ton of hustle and bustle throughout the first episode, the second one absolutely tanked! Nothing really happened, neither cake was innovative, and I felt bad for Marissa getting chewed out for not working hard enough - evidenced by the fact that she's wearing a sweatshirt, so she must not be "warmed up." Maybe I'm a softy sometimes, but that was just harsh to me. Hopefully this one boring episode was a fluke, as I'd hate to have to start hating on this show...

Cake Boss "Under the Sea" (S05E13): Grace and Joey's daughter, Bartolina, is turning 16. You may remember that she's had a lot of health problems, so the whole family is really excited about giving her a great party. She wants a fish tank in her cake (the party is an "Under the Sea" theme) and 250 cookies - seashells, seahorses, etc. [was it just me or did some of the cake looked burnt? those big fish looked incredible, though!] Grace thinks that the piping on the fondant on the cookies should be finer and that the colors should be more assorted. She also thinks that all of the fish should be shiny. [picky, picky. I agree, though.] On the other side of the bakery, Marissa is in charge of making Isomalt for the first time. There are supposed to be moving fish, a burned-out motor slows down things for a while. [why does Ralph have pink in his hair? and why were they that close to the train tracks?] Everyone loves the end product and has trouble believing it's even a cake! [it was crazy colorful and very amazing, but SO BIG! I thought that her dress and makeup fit the theme very well, too.] 

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com

The cake Mauro works on this episode is for a guy retiring from the FBI. [odd to point out Mauro's issues with identity theft, I thought.] They do a cookies-n-cream filling and have the various tiers address the different parts of the agent's career - SWAT, cyber-security, etc. The recipient was blown away. [I thought it was average for Carlo's. Great for a bakery cake, but not as amazing as some of the things that come out of that Hoboken heaven.]

Cake Boss "New Deli, New Design" (S05E14): A family-owned deli in East Hanover wants a cake to celebrate their re-opening, so the crew replicates a deli case, though they struggle to make all of the meats and cheeses look real. [the end result looked more like clay than cake to me...]

Mary's children, Joseph and Lucia, and SisterLisa's son, John, are all celebrating their first communions, and Mary designs their cake. [I adored the painting, but overall did NOT like that cake!] Also, for whatever reason, Mary plays with the paging system. [I guess this might come back to haunt the show and that's why it was added?]