Cake Boss: Hot Air Balloons, Napoleons, and a Party

Is it just me, or has this series really turned into one of those random shows that runs, then stops, then airs a handful of episodes (sometimes multiple in a single night), then disappears again? You're never really sure when new episodes are running, or what the cancellation status is... it gets confusing! Cake Boss in particular is past 150 episodes now, and even Buddy has admitted in a roundabout way that everything has been showcased, and because of that, customers just want bigger and crazier cakes, which is becoming very challenging for his team. Sure, there is never-ending drama when you consider the family, and employees come and go in the bakery, but even I am starting to wonder if this show has had a full life...

DCL

The Cake Boss "Up, Up, & Away" (S06E28) [season finale]: Howard, who runs the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, wants a cake delivered via hot air balloon. [first of all, I' from New Jersey and have never heard of this festival! second, I loved the term "balloonatics."] The basket isn't large, and landing isn't always smooth, so they need to build it shorter than 30". They decide to make cotton candy clouds, but it keeps melting, which is a shame. [it is a really beautiful cake, though!] When it comes time to get into the balloon, Buddy doesn't think it will work, but he and Maurizio get in to go for it. Buddy fought to keep the cake upright as they nearly crash, but it's salvageable.

Pierre (a chef) & Talita (a restaurant owner) want a cake for Bastille Day, July 14th. It'll be a large napoleon, and Buddy worries about the pastry cracking when supports are added, so they use bamboo skewers instead of traditional dowels.

The rest of the episode focuses on family issues - we learn that Momma heads back to Israel to get the cultivated stem cells from her brother, Dominic. We review that her children are 47, 46, 44, 38, 36. We learn that Ashley is moving on from Carlo's and is starting her own bakery, and Buddy gives her some advice.

Buddy has Marco and Sophia help him make chocolate-covered strawberries for the company party cake, where the employees vote for "Most Valuable Baker" and "Most Valuable Decorator." [Buddy makes sure nobody is voting for his or herself, haha.] Lou wins for baker, and Jessica B. earns decorator, so both receive gift cards for massages. [a dunk tank?] Three days later, Anthony decides to move to Florida without an explanation. He hadn't been doing great at the bakery, and was resisting Buddy's efforts to assist him in making cream puffs correctly.