Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Buddy's Bakery Rescue: Boston Traditions

So, I've previously complained about this show working to save bakeries that don't seem to deserve the help. Now, I'm wondering just how low the bar is set, as the establishment in the latest episode is very much more a cafe than a bakery, which we've seen before. This show is slogging on and can't be doing that well, so should TLC decide to bring it back for a third season (which I don't see happening), we won't be covering it. Let's allow Buddy to shine in other endeavors.
Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Prince Street Cafe & Bakery" (S02E06): A husband-wife team runs a quick-service Italian place in a stripmall in Bedford, MA, half an hour from downtown Boston. He does panini and pizza, she does pastries, using her grandfather's recipes from his closed Boston bakery. They've been in business three years, put in about $350k, but are $50k-60k in debt, lose $2000-6000 each month, and aren't even taking any salaries. [man, they really saved up to start this dream, huh?] 

The window decals don't really promote the bakery aspect of the establishment, the refrigerator doesn't have enough shelves, and they only have one workbench to prepare both sweet and savory items. But, Buddy is mostly concerned with the consistency of their treats... while the pizza is good, the Boston Creme Pie is light on the cream, the Bedford Creme Pie has two different cakes in its layers, the Ricotta Cake was too dense, and the Lemon Dream Puffs are inconsistently filled with artificial, horrible cream. [wow! that's a lot of negatives!]

Buddy talks about the recipes being classic for the time period, and because ricotta isn't the same as impastata, he takes the proprietor to her aunt's restaurant in Boston (where grandpa's bakery once was) and works on recreating the Ricotta Pie and Lemon Dream Puff with her. The answer is to use a mix of ricotta and impastata in the pie and use real lemons instead of oil in the puff. [they used to use citron, apparently.]

Buddy also helps the baker learn about icing and decorating a cake quickly, as she apparently turns down at least one customer each day who is looking for a $35.89 cake to-go! [it can't possibly be too much work to make one cake a day!] Buddy also loads their new menu with cake options: Caramel, Bedford Creme Pie (chocolate cake, spiced pastry cream, blueberries), Boston Creme Pie, Tiramisu, Dessert Pizza (grilled banana pie with Nutella and fluff), and Cappuccino Cake. 

As for a store makeover, they recreate the look of Prince Street inside the bakery, and the back room gets islands to separate "sweet" and "savory" preparations. [I really liked the inside look!] The outside just beefs up the decals about the baked goods. [pastries in the lanterns?] They also get new freezers and a double oven. 

Six months later, they have red velvet cake, some new cupcakes, and a grilled pineapple dessert pizza.
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