Cake Boss: Field Trips, Tricky Cakes, Family Drama

I wanted to see more of the underwater cake they were decorating! I also enjoy seeing the old-fashioned designs, so seeing Mauro's fancy stringwork was neat. However, I'm not sure why we're seeing work that is obviously not Carlo's best... take the Samurai cake featured below for example... some rows of design clearly have thicker yellow lines, others thicker red, and a few that appear very even... why so much disconnect? Yes, it's easier to pipe all of one first and go back for the other, but that's what causes it to look mediocre in places.

Otherwise, the monotony of this series is starting to get to me... the producers are mixing great cakes with troubles projects and throwing a little family drama here and there... while each is interesting in its own way, the mix has seemed off lately, and I need it to get back on track. It is nice to see more "field trips," though. Any thoughts on what we've been seeing of the bakery lately?

DCL

The Cake Boss "Sicilian Samurai" (S06E23): The bakers take a class in samurai martial arts so they can prepare to make a cake for a group of practitioners. The traditions will be presented on the cake, and the details need to be authentic. [Buddy never talks about the tips he uses, so the promotion of tip 199 was interesting. that said, it did not appear to be their neatest work.] Later, Buddy rents some sumo wrestling suits and a mat and has some of the employees duke it out. [weird.] When it comes time to deliver the cake, they struggle because it's too tall for the elevator while on a cart, but the elevator is too small for multiple people and a cake. Luckily, they manage. 

The parents of the new mayor of Jersey City order a patriotic, celebratory cake for their son. [Buddy didn't attach those cakes in that hat structure?] They add a confetti cannon, which is risky because it's loud and could damage the cake. [plus, who wants to ear confetti on cake?!?]

The Cake Boss "Down the Drain" (S06E24): Christina plans a surprise 41st birthday party for her Irish boyfriend, even though he hates surprises. [so she did it because it made her feel/look good? annoying!] She wants a cake to fit his "human garbage disposal" persona, so the guys decide to put a garbage disposing device inside, and make the recipient eat whatever comes out. [seriously??] Ralph and Mauro work with a real garbage disposal, but the results resemble vomit, so they try using the sausage grinder attachment for a mixer... which results in having to build a mixer into the cake! [did the customer have to buy the KitchenAid?? because that's like $300 extra!] They create foods out of fondant and modeling chocolate covering cereal treats. The overall appearance is a bit tacky, but the birthday boy does eat a concoction made from chips, chocolate, and beer! Buddy takes a similar game to the bakery, bringing in pig's feet, tripe, lamb's head, quail eggs, and other gross items to see who's willing to eat that stuff. [I thought the decorators betting each other was funny, but Mauro digging in without being paid was just weird!] 

Matt & Michelle are getting married, and want a wedding cake getting winched by a tow truck. It's tough, but the bakers pull it off, complete with some old-school piping on the wedding cake.

Family: Anthony has been the manager of the baking room for about a year, but his biscotti dough is the wrong consistency so he's not perfect.

The Cake Boss "Icing the Cake" (S06E25): Buddy does a cake for the NHL Draft, and gets to see some of the new players in action. [he only got a couple of days of notice on this one?] He decides to go with a life-size goalie, which turns out well. There's also a second job with the project, as Buddy designs a prank cake for one of the announcers so that a pie flies up to hit the recipient in the face. [that was cool, but I bet you could get a better idea of what was going to happen if you were close.]

A woman comes in, wanting a delicate stringwork design for a replica cake, as she's been turned down by multiple bakeries. [hanging sugar IS tough, which Buddy has mentioned in the past.] Buddy agrees to do it, and puts Mauro in charge of making it work on-location. [it's pretty, though not perfectly even. The recipients were so surprised!] 

Family: Momma is improving a month after the first round of stem cell treatment, so she decides to return to Israel for another round. [her faith that it will work is encouraging.]

The Cake Boss "Birthdays and Biceps" (S06E26): Buddy does a cake for a family of arm-wrestling champions. [wow. now that's an activity I haven't heard about in ten years!] The cake has battling arms coming out at an angle, with a turntable to showcase the veins in the arms. When the hole isn't big enough and there's no access door on the cake, they trim the cake to fit. [reapplying that diamond-looking fondant covering must have taken a lot of time!] After adding some lights and bells, they go to deliver the cake, and learn that the turntable slid down inside during travel. [ugh! what a disaster!] Buddy and Mauro are able to salvage it to its original state, luckily.

Family: Mauro talks to his kids about doing something special for Madeline's birthday, so Mary, Dominique, and Buddy are in charge of making a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with salad. [the kids must take after Grace and not cook, LoL.] It's up to the youngest to distract Madeline while Mauro and the girls get everything set up, but she realizes quickly that something is happening. [what was the filling? prunta crema?] Everything works out, though it appears they didn't have time to make the salad. [loved that there was a present inside the cake!]