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.

Buddy's Bakery Rescue: Lost Causes?

This show is just painful to watch! The latest two episodes featured problems that I found to be really dumb, so I'm surprised those bakeries were chosen for this series. In the first case, the owners were doing just about everything wrong, from exterior look to interior design to flavor to visual appeal... if you need that much help, it's hard to root for you. The problem with the second case boiled down to the fact that they needed to get the air conditioning fixed. I know it's tough to do that sort of thing when you have no money (my family spent a couple Florida summers without a/c), but if the family had tried anything outside of the norm (fans. trade goods for service. window unit. humidifier. something.), it wasn't shown. I love seeing Buddy in action, but I'm hard-pressed to believe these two bakeries were the most deserving of his help.

Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Laura's Sweets Specialty Bake Shoppe" (S02E04): Buddy travels to the artsy town of Sugar Loaf in the Catskills Mountains of New York, where sisters Maria & Laura have been in business together for 18 months. They specialize in custom orders, but are $35,000 in debt and one is about to lose her home. Their operation costs $1500-$2000/week to run, but $2000/week is a really great haul for them. [I'm not going to touch the whole "we also homeschool as we work thing.]

It's very sparse inside, and the decorations outside are horrible. They've had no professional training, their stuff isn't really visually appealing, and Buddy doesn't care for anything he tries (cake, cannoli cream, macarons). [I was shocked that they thought their items looked artisanal! they're not even Wilton quality!] Buddy proves it to them by asking locals what they think... and the responses mention the flavors are store-bought and the looks are something anyone could do. So, Buddy teaches them stringwork and droplines for dummy cakes, and they teach themselves some brushed embroidery. [I really liked the design of the four-tier square cake they made.]

They change plastic picnic tables out front to wooden Adirondack chairs, and re-design the kitchen so there's an area designated for cake decorating, and another for homeschooling. The biggest change, however, was the new menu: fancier designs and an actual little sugar loaf.

Four months later, they're doing okay and keep working on staying artisanal.

Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Not Jus' Donuts" (S02E05): In Houston, a family-owned business has been open 13 years, though the owners only make about $7000/year because of the running monthly cost of $12,000. [I laughed that Buddy drove by it because the signs weren't eye-catching!] The a/c has been broken a while, but they don't have $8,000 to fix it, and they keep their baked goods in plastic containers to keep in the moisture, though that just makes everything look pre-purchased. [also, I agreed that the tablecloths were gross.]

Buddy tries some sweet potato pie, which is perfect. But, the sour cream cake is a bit too sweet and the pecan pie tastes artificial. He changes the recipe, and adds both a donut cake (to play at the bakery's name), and a buttermilk biscuit with fruit and cream to the menu.

He teaches them some fondant flowers, and after they have a four-tier cake, Buddy gets it photographed. [that was an interesting move, as he usually doesn't think pictures are worth as much as dummy cakes and the like, unless maybe it was being published for marketing and I missed that?] They do a major re-design to the front, adding benches and an awning. He also fixes the air conditioning, and gives them an updated decorating room and a sheeter. [this show does really make me want a sheeter, even if I only do fondant cakes a few times a year!] 

Three months later, business has been growing, and they're selling out of $45 cakes.

RETURNING: Bakery Boss, now Buddy's Bakery Rescue

It's unclear why the title of this series changes from Bakery Boss to Buddy's Bakery Rescue between seasons, or why the runs are so short (season one ran seven episodes, this season will run six), but, regardless, Buddy Valastro is back at it again, helping small, family-run bakeries figure out what they need to do to get themselves back on their feet. As with last season, this ranges from making the menu more attractive to improving the look of the bakery to updating the equipment so they can update their recipes and designs. In the first half of this set of installments, we see all of these things, from a college town corner establishment to an airport cafe to a trendy upscale shoppe. Family conflicts seem to be a common issue for the bakeries, but I have to wonder what really sets one apart from another on this series...

Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Bing's Bakery" (S02E01): Bing's Bakery is the oldest running bakery (since 1946!) in Delaware, on Main Street in Newark near Delaware University. [sounds like they have a lot going for it already!] A new family bought it eight years ago, but they're not making money the way they should, and hit "shut-off" dates frequently, making ends meet only by being late on one payment to pay another. [that's the blue collar motto, no?] The place is dated, they have broken equipment, they owe about $650,000, but their products are good - Buddy rated the glace, strawberry cheesecake, carrot cake, and pecan danish as good, the french pastry as okay, the baba au rhum as too sweet and not authentic, and the brownie as tasting artificial. The variety of items they offer is really wide, and that's why they don't have "10" products, so Buddy's advice is for stop making the items that are only "5s."

Colleen Douglass/TLC

It's strange that the head baker is so headstrong about continuing to bake as many items as he does - they give away about 20% of their stuff to charity when it doesn't sell in 3-4 days. [that's a lot!] He doesn't want the place to look empty, so Buddy suggests they take out some shelves and showcases, but it takes hard math to convince Tom that they have $9,756 of product on the shelves, and because they don't take exact inventory of what sells, they're probably throwing away close to $2,000 twice per week. [they don't keep track of what sells?!??!] This is about double what Tom was guessing, so he agrees to trim the menu by about 20%.

Another big problem is that there are 16,000 students less than a mile away, but they don't come in. [I WISH there was a bakery that close to my college campus!] So, Buddy wants the bakery to update its menu to attract them, but first he has to convince the Bings that their items aren't working. The Bings make black-and-white cookies and cannolis, while Buddy makes brownies and pocket pastries, and they set up cameras to see which get taken in the university cafeteria... turns out, the eye-catching stuff wins! [duh.] The family decides that they need to change their black-and-white to school colors, add more types of coffee, and offer free wi-fi.

Buddy re-does the look of the place and fixes some of the equipment, and adds a cappuccino machine, a decorating station near the front window, and a better inventory system. [what was with the varying age of the bakery... 90, 60, 70 years old??] They also add in some menu items to draw the younger demographic: brownies, lemon-and-blueberry cake (for the school's colors), pocket pastries, cupcakes, peanut butter bar, oatmeal cream cookies, and smoothies. [so pocket pastries are like glorified PopTarts?]

Four months later, revenue is up, charity is reduced, and they have more college students in the place.

Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Grandma Millie's Bakery & Cafe" (S02E02): The bakery opened in 1999 and is in a small airport in Fulton County (upstate New York), and run by a mother, her two sons, and one of their wives. One of the sons went to culinary school and wants to update the menu, but mom wants to stick to comfort foods, like their signature apple pie. Although their location gives great views of planes taking off as well as vintage aircraft, there are days when they get ZERO customers. They survive on events, but "survive" is a manner of speaking, as their debt is near $200k. [the four of them not having equal shares in the company started off seeming to be a big deal, but that died out.]

When Buddy arrives, there's no pie available, and he judges the pineapple upside-down mini cake to be stale, the cream cheese frosting on the carrot cake to be gritty, and he won't even try the seasonal item, "autumn squares" (open-faced turnovers) of cream cheese, apple, and pumpkin in a puff pastry, because it looks gross. [what a terrible way to start! I gotta admit, none of that sounded good to me, either.] Of course, they're not working with top-of-the-line equipment, either... they don't have fondant tools, the mixer is bad, the oven leans, and they hardly ever clean the fridges and racks. So, the first order of business is for Buddy to ask everyone to pitch in and clean. Then, Jason, Chauncey, and Buddy all bake some items to take to the local Fall Fest to see what the community prefers. The family makes chocolate peanut butter petit fours and the "harvest squares" while Buddy offers fudge and pocket pies, which the people of Johnstown like. [labels would have helped the petit fours, I think.]

Chauncey still wants more respect before she'll let Jason take control of the kitchen, so Buddy asks Chancey to teach Jason her grandmother's apple pie recipe, which he hasn't been able to properly replicate before. Buddy also changes up the menu to be more colorful, with pocket pies, birthday cakes, apple pies, mini cobblers, fudges, airplane and cloud cookies, s'mores-on-a-stick, and cupcakes. [that sounds like a pretty balanced menu for a small shoppe.] This is helped by themed aviation decor, new equipment, a seating area to watch planes take off, new signage, a new display case, a fondant sheeter, more tools, and even a new van from a charity organization. [that's cool. was that also a new chef's uniform? and, where was Buddy making a joke about keeping all the new stuff clean, LoL?]  

Two months later, they're selling tons of cookies and pies, and they've booked a lot of parties. 

Buddy's Bakery Rescue "Pastry is Art" (S02E03): Jenny is Peruvian and has been doing pastries since she was 16, and has decided to run her own bakery in North Miami so she can spend more time with her son. [interesting reasoning.] They also make sandwiches in the shoppe, but Jenny doesn't let the other employees do it, so she's constantly pulled away from things during rushes. She has her employees try to bring in customers by acting sexy. [I liked the rolling pin door handle, but I was offended by the "sexy" thing!!] Buddy notes that nothing in the decor pops, so the pastry design is brought down. [good point.]

Operating costs are $12-15k/month, but they only make about $10k, so they're a little more than $90k in debt. The items in the display case are mis-labeled, but the flan cheesecake is great. The frasier has strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla, and is also good. The linzer tart isn't good, as the consistency is dry, but Jenny fights that. [and I instantly dislike her.] Buddy thinks that they should serve ice cream with their desserts, especially being in Miami, but Jenny thinks she'd need a new person just to do that, as she bought a used ice cream machine but has never tried it. [I'm rolling my eyes at how pathetic she thinks her employees must be!]

A plate breaks and a meal falls to the ground, and Jenny yells at the employee (her sister), which shows Buddy that management is the real problem. He sends home Jenny so he can try working with the others, and has them make a telenovela to show Jenny what she's like. [ha!] Then, he teaches Jenny to make gelatin decorations and discusses marketing with them, as they had been relying on word-of-mouth for advertising. [in Miami?!?] Buddy also sets Jenny up with an event gig so she can start doing more parties.

The redecoration features pictures of her pastries with descriptions, like an art gallery. [cool concept. this was definitely one of the more nuanced makeovers, too.] They also get some better appliances, and a few new desserts that are both visually striking and tropical: blueberry guanabana cake, jigsaw cake with gelatin on top, raspberry-orange cheesecake, chocolate joconde, tropical lady tart. [that jigsaw cake is neat, but I personally think it's tough to make.] He also hooks up their ice cream machine. [how tough was that, actually? also, for the re-opening, I don't consider that a "great crowd" in Miami.]

Three months later, they're selling a lot of the jigsaw cake, and sales are up 20%.

Bakery Boss: When the Baker is the Problem

Give Buddy a problem, and he'll find a way to fix it. Unfortunately, when a baker doesn't realize he has a problem, it's tougher to do. This is part of the issue that Drew's Pastry Place is having, as Drew ignores the public's demands for cupcakes because he thinks making them is below him. For perspective, Carlo's Bakery sells 10-15k cupcakes each week! On that note, I've had the red velvet there, and it was great - not the best of my life, but way better than the ones you get at Sprinkles! Anyway, I was glad that Buddy was able to convince Drew to offer his customers what they want, and put his own flair on cupcakes at the same time. It's important to have a signature item, as that sets you apart and raises your self-esteem - you can make something that not everyone can! I mean, I don't even bake professionally, and my signature cupcake (of which I am quite proud) is amaretto cream, and it's just divine.  ;)

Bakery Boss "Drew's Pastry Place" (S01E07): In Houston, Buddy visits the only Italian pastry shoppe in town, which appears to be part Italian market and part cafe, as they sell cookies, tiramisu, cannolis, cakes, and lasagna. [interesting twist.] The tiramisu is good, the cannoli cream is good (though not plentiful), but there are no Southern baked goods, when there's a market for them. There are also no cupcakes besides red velvet ones, as Drew, the owner, doesn't think they show off his abilities. [but they know there is a demand for them? what a jerk!] The problem there is that they buy cream cheese frosting by the bucket, so Buddy shows him how to make it. [omg, good cream cheese icing is my favorite!]

More about the bakery: when Drew was 40, he went to pastry school, and when he finished, his parents cashed in their 401K to start the bakery. [wow.] His dad has been paying the rent for five years, and Drew hasn't taken a paycheck in about as long, so $600,000 later, they're losing like $3k/month. [this location costs about $19k/month to run.] Drew likes to do things his way, so Buddy has to stage an intervention to get Drew to five up his ego. Then, Buddy sets to work on showing Drew that the local market wants more option, so he sets out two tables - one with goods the bakery sells, one with items Buddy thinks people in Houston would buy: sugar cookies, cinnamon buns, banana pudding, banana bread, and cupcakes. [I'm still laughing at "any monkey can make a cupcake."] Passersby can have 1 item from either table, based on visual appeal. Most of Buddy's items are taken first, so Drew decides to open up his mind to other possibilities, like cupcakes. Buddy even helps Drew figure out his signature cupcake: cannoli flavor, because he's proud of his cream.

Buddy's designer also gives the place a new look - less Italian distractions, easier sightlines, a larger nook space, and more colors on the walls. [the family photos on the wall were weird.]

Two months later, there's cherry pie and reindeer cupcakes for sale, and things have been busy in the bakery.

Buddy this Week: Cake & Bakery Boss

I decided to combine Buddy Valastro's TLC shows into one post this week because of Garrett. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but Garrett was a competitor on yet another of Valastro's shows, Cake Boss: Next Great Baker, but wound up withdrawing from competition due to his anxiety. Ashley went on to win that season, so the focus on her in this week's Cake Boss seemed to be linked to Lidia's issues in Bakery Boss. On that note, I had forgotten that Buddy suffered from anxiety here and there, though it has been mentioned before. I've had obsessive-compulsive issues since I was seven, and while I am rarely physically affected in an interfering way, I can relate to being unable to control oneself when certain situations arise. I was intrigued that Lidia went from being fairly nonchalant about the bakery's success to being gung-ho and ready to lead, given her uncertainty over whether she knew what she was doing. Of course, on that note, I agreed with her - it probably would have behooved her to work for someone as a decorator or baker for a while to see what sells, how to display/market your goods, etc., but maybe it'll all work out.

Cake Boss "Next Great Bride" (S06E21): Ashley and her fiance have moved to Tennessee with their chickens, dog, and cat. [but she's still at the bakery in New Jersey? or the interview was just later?] The couple will be married at a winery with a hot air balloon to go up and down, and Carlo's is going to do both the wedding cake and the groom's cake. [that's a lot of cattails!] Ashley wants pinwheels on the cake and a hollow heart inside one of the layers, plus the whole thing will be topped off with a taxidermied mice cake topper. [yeah...] The groom's cake features their pets playing ping pong and fishing. [I thought it was a really cute idea, as was the beans & eggs thing.] Anthony makes fun of the cake, so Buddy challenges him to ping pong - if Anthony wins, he'll have an easy summer schedule. But, he loses, and he has to have his whole body waxed. [doing it in the bakery was rough and kinda gross!] Danny and Anthony deliver the cakes to Kentucky [I didn't care for Ashley's wedding cake... so weird.] Ashley's mom isn't thrilled for the dead rodents on the cake, [I've never seen someone freak out like Ashley before the wedding. or during the ceremony, for that matter!]

DCL

Cake Boss "Carlo's Cowboys" (S06E22): Some "East Coast Rodeo Cowboys" ask for a cake for a bull-riding clinic, and Buddy does a six-foot tall cake that is a rider on a horse, complete with a spinning lasso! [loved Ralph's puns! also, that cake looked amazing! see for yourself to the right!] a lot of the family members go to the delivery, and Anthony and Maurizio get to try riding bulls, lasting 7 and 5 seconds, respectively. The other guys gets to ride horses while the girls muck the stalls. [Mauro was funny.]

Ben and Anne are getting married in a surprise ceremony, so Buddy does a cake for them that incorporated the lace designs in Anne's gown. [I like watching Buddy and Liz work together.]

Bakery Boss "Lidia's Bakeshop & Cafe" (S01E06): Buddy visits Dobbs Ferry, NY, an affluent town 45 min N of Manhattan, where Lidia is pushed by her mother into running a bakery. [Lidia never does say what she was doing that wasn't "in-field" before starting this project.] Though Lidia does want this career and has degrees in culinary arts, she feels like she was rushed into this at a young age and without the proper experience. They've been open six months and make $200-$400 a day (they're open 6 days/week), with four employees. Lidia isn't sure how big the loss is, though, as her mother owns the building so they use it rent-free, and the woman also invested about $100k in renovations and appliances. [holy cow! That $5-10k/month estimate is probably right!]

There are big organization problems, the feel isn't "bakery," the showcases aren't full,and they don't sell cakes (sliced or whole). [that recipe search was disastrous!] Their biggest seller, in fact, are panini, which is odd for a place with a big sign that says "bakery." The cupcakes are frosted to order, but when things aren't out to see, it's hard to order them. [she really believed that she should wait until the last possible second to ice them?] The cupcakes are good, the pignoli is really hard and looks boring, and although the brownies are individually wrapped, they are so hard that they break a fork! [MY brownies aren't that hard in four days!] 

When a customer comes in wanting 20 cupcakes, and they have none because the freezer is full of cookie dough, Lidia attempts to get them made in 45 minutes. However, the rush causes her to have a panic attack, so Buddy asks the group to close the store and go home. He chats with Lidia about the situation, and when she seems determined to make it work, he has her show him her cake decorating skills the following morning. The reason the store doesn't sell fondant cakes is because Lidia feels she's too busy to do them, even though she does a great job. [she definitely has an eye for this!]

Buddy does some renovation to the front of the bakery, including making room for dummy cakes on the shelves. [I'm SHOCKED they didn't have any!] Lidia will also be able to decorate behind glass for customers to watch. [I'd have been wary of installing that in a store where the lead baker has frequent panic attacks...] The kitchen got a sheeter, too, along with a nice new inventory and cash register system.] There's an easy menu for the staff to handle so that Lidia will be able to focus on cakes, and Buddy even shows her some decorating techniques. [I actually wanted to go into my kitchen and make a chocolate tart, LoL.] Then, they have a grand re-opening and Buddy even arranges for Lidia to make a sweet sixteen cake for 40 people. Though it's due the same day, she is able to incorporate "pink" and "jewelry" and even do the cake in the window. [I thought the middle tier was a bit plain, but maybe I'm just so not a pink person that I couldn't process its pros. also, personal pet peeve, I hate it when vendors promote themselves at events. and, the kids at the party seemed way younger than 16 for the most part.] A few months later, they're selling 30% more. [I don't know that I would have done away with the panini entirely, as it was their big money maker... plus, 30% more is only making $520/day max, so let's hope she meant 300% more?]

Bakery Boss: Not that Interesting

This show is now far enough in that I can really give it a full critique. As a Valastro family fan (I've actually been to Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken - get the crumb cake!), I've followed all of Buddy's television shows. I've supported Cake Boss from the beginning, and find Cake Boss: Next Great Baker to be the best bakery competition show on television. I enjoyed Kitchen Boss as well, but didn't find it good article material. This series, however, I can't say I look forward to watching. Perhaps I'm not the target demo, as I don't watch remodeling shows, but seeing Buddy help out these small bakeries that need assistance doesn't really appeal to me. Having no other family members helping out may be a factor - imagine how much better it would be if a different person helped out each bakery - Joey could teach baking, Grace could help with selling, Ralph could demonstrate modeling, Mauro could assist with consultations, etc. I think that would bring a lot to this series. I like that not everyone is having the same problems, but the solutions tend to be about the same, so that also detracts from the show. What do you think would be the biggest help to this one?

Bakery Boss "Violet's Bake Shop" (S01E02): Buddy is in a historically Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Queens, where Violet, her husband Marty, and their grown son Michael, are trying to compete with three neighborhood supermarkets that have opened in recent years. They buy and re-sell a lot of their products, and Michael hardly helps because his mother doesn't trust him, so he has been working solely on challah recipe variations. [Challywood is a cool name, and I love challah bread, so I hope that gets picked up more nationally.] They store is very bare, the signs are difficult to read, and the place is uninviting. They're losing $3000 a week running the bakery, and they've put in $300k already. [yikes!]

TLC

Buddy finds the apple-cinnamon challah good, but the cupcakes tough, stale, and dry. [gross!] The salesperson didn't want promote the cupcakes, though Violet feels they are the best item and even pays to sell them in the bakery. The brownie (also from a vendor) has a bad aftertaste as well, but Violet doesn't think the bakers can handle making these items on their own. [seriously? cupcakes and brownies ain't souffles and chiffon cakes, lady!] Plus, everyone at the bakery seems to believe that pareve items (no meat or dairy) can be that good anyway. Buddy finds the Hungarian baked goods overly dry, but Violet believes her shoppe still sells better items than anywhere else. To convince her otherwise, Buddy sets up a surveillance camera in a supermarket and they watch Violet's bread customers buying other items from the store. [I assume he got consent to do so or something??] Then, they set up a taste-test in the parking lot between Violet's items and the supermarket's items. She STILL thinks her own items are better, even though NOBODY selects hers as the winner. [wtf, woman??] 

So, Buddy takes the time to show the bakers some basic decorating (including delicate designs), gets the place some new appliances, and works up a new kosher menu. [that's a lot of help, really!] He also watches Michael and Violet bake together, to show that they can work together if they compromise more on responsibility and input. The biggest challenge, however, is selling things, as Marty announces that if they don't sell $5,000 of product in a single day, they have to close. They wind up with a tally of $5,217, and, three months later, they're not buying any more cookies, and almost everything is baked in-house.

Bakery Boss "Kristi G's Cupcakes & More" (S01E03): In Texas, there's a little family-owned bakery in the Vista Ridge Mall, owned by Kristi and her husband, Kenny, who convinced her to start this business with his mother as a major investor. Kristi struggles to tell people what to do, and has fired her daughter from the store numerous times for reasons varying from not wearing her uniform to refusing to was dishes, but always re-hires her. [I can't stand that kind of kid!] They're losing $2500-3000/month, and think that a move to the food court would be the best choice to save the business. Buddy isn't big on the sign, logo, or window display, but thinks it's a great location near an entrance. [we don't see exactly where the place is in the mall, but I personally tend not to walk down the little halls that only have a few places in them before the door, and that appears to be what this is...] He also points out that a move requires a $500k remodel. Additionally, he doesn't think there's not enough products to sell - it looks more like a bake sale than a bakery. [agreed.]

Buddy tries some of the cupcakes, but finds the frosting to be too sugary and gritty, the strawberry to look artificial and taste like cough medicine (they admit to using drink mix in it), the frosting to be inconsistent, and the decorations to look amateurish. They also have items on the "specialty menu" that aren't actually available, like mini-bundt cakes, muffins, cookies, or brownies, and Kristi says that the employees don't follow her directions to bake other items. [fire them all and start over! there are tons of people looking for work!] Buddy tells her that she can freeze cupcakes and ice them as needed to help with the baking workload, but they don't have a freezer. [seriously??]

To help convince the group of what needs to be done, Buddy sends Kristi's MIL on a mission to ask people who walked by their shop where a cupcake shop was, and nobody knows. [how big is this mall?] However, when she asks people where a candy shop is, everyone knows. Then, it's time to work on employee dynamics, so he brings in a drill sergeant to help Kristi's leadership abilities. [those younger girls constantly messing around got on my nerves SO BADLY!]

Buddy calls for a remodel that brings the cases closer to the front of the store, moves the ovens out into the open to utilize the freshly-baked smell to bring in customers, sets it up so they can decorate out in the open and have customers watch, brings in a refrigerated pastry case and freezer, and even change the color palette and the sign. [the random bunching of colors on the drawers bothered me.] There are new flavors of cupcakes on the menu as well, plus pecan pie, cake pops, and brownies. Buddy gives them a new strawberry cupcake recipe (the secret is to add cornstarch to absorb the water from the strawberries!), shows them how to add some strawberry jam into buttercream, and even gives them a cupcake mascot uniform to use to attract more people. Three months later, they are doing double their old sales!

Bakery Boss "Oteri's Italian Bakery" (S01E04): Buddy is in North Philadelphia to check out a 100-year-old family bakery with 60 employees, including fondant decorators. [that's a big operation!] They're "old-school Italian," and everything is made in-house, though they lost a lot of customers when the previous generation died out. [that's kinda random?] They vary from breaking even to losing $5-10K/week.  

Buddy thinks there's a very random assortment of party stuff inside, and has issues with several of their items. The cream puff is enormous for $2.75, but is filled with imitation whipped cream, not custard. [I agree that was crazy cheap for the size!] The German Chocolate Cake is old, the raspberry flavor is artificial, the biscotti are rock hard, and the cannoli cream is too sweet. That last one strikes a nerve with the family, however, as it's the original recipe. To try influencing the Oteris, Buddy agrees to a blind taste-test of cannolis, where Buddy wins by a landslide. [I honestly thought it would be closer, but I don't like cannolis so I find them all about the same, LoL.]

The owner of Geno's steaks comes in to ask the bakery to do a giant cheesesteak cake, and although they do custom cakes, a 24-hour turnaround time is nerve-wracking, so Buddy shows them how it's done. [this was a little more interesting than past problems.] They were clueless about the uses of modeling chocolate, apparently. Buddy gets the exterior re-painted, de-clutters the inside, and changes the menu a little (adding tiramisu, altering the German Chocolate Cake recipe, and shrinking the cream puff). He also gives them another cannoli cream recipe to consider. The suggestions work so well for the bakery that they soon open another location! [ahhh! if only I was back in Bucks!]

Bakery Boss "Baked Euphoria" (S01E05): A shoppe in Endwell, NY with a 1960s-70s vibe is the owner's third attempt at a bakery, and brings in $250 on a good day. [yikes.] The sign isn't visible from the road driving both ways, the front looks like they're selling lawn furniture, and when Buddy arrives, there's nobody up front. The cupcakes are hard, but the sugar cookies and scones are good. However, the decorations aren't the best, they don't sell slices of cake, and they freeze their cookies, so sometimes they thaw with weird tastes. [the doggie cookies were random.] They also have some cookies that they buy to re-sell, but they're crumbly and tough. Buddy challenges the bakery to see how many types of cookies they can bake in an hour from sugar cookie dough, and they come up with 20+ variations. [I thought this was a cool idea!]

They bake in home ovens, but the biggest problem is low morale. Buddy assesses that the problem is the owner's attitude and inability to lead, so he gets some former customers to cheer her up, then brightens up the walls, cases, floors, and exterior. He changes the consumer kitchen to be a professional kitchen, and even gets them a freezer, though they have to promise not to pre-bake anymore! The big interest item is a sheeter, and combined with some new techniques that buddy shows them, they should be in business to do a whole lot better! [I question the sheeter, though... how much fondant are they really using at this particular bakery?]

NEW SHOW: Bakery Boss

This is the fourth series TLC has made revolving around Buddy Valastro, also known as "The Cake Boss." He introduces this show by saying that Carlo's has been successful his entire life, but because many other family bakeries have not been that fortunate, he wants to help. It is not certain how many episodes of Bakery Boss have been filmed at this point, but no more are currently on TLC's schedule, so when we will see another episode is anyone's guess. Of course, I hope that the seasonal cues aren't as bad in other episodes... I mean, wasn't it kinda funny that it's summer but it's snowing in the episodes? Anyway, this isn't really my "type" of series, and I didn't find the family in "Friendly Bake Shop" all that endearing, so I'm not sure how long I'll stick around, but, out of curiosity, I'll likely cover a few episodes. 

TLC

Bakery Boss "Friendly Bake Shop" (S01E01): Buddy travels to Frankfort, NY (near Utica) to help out an Italian-American bakery that opened in the early 1960s. Three brothers took over the company thirty years ago, and three adult children from the next generation are now helping. [I was shocked that not everyone even takes a salary and that one of the dads only gets like $500/week!] The bakery used to do all kinds of cakes and pies, but now they focus mainly on breads and rolls, though their menu does include 8" cakes for $17, blueberry muffins for 95 cents, cannolis for $1.75, and cinnamon buns for 90 cents ($8.25/dozen).

Buddy has a lot of ideas for fixing this business, but the first thing to be addressed are the baked goods themselves. The cream in the cannolis is too sweet, the store-bought chocolate filling in some of the items isn't great, the eclairs are boring, and the muffins are really dry. [yeah, I'd probably struggle to swallow that criticism, too!] However, the family thinks that these items are 9s and 10s, which is sad.

The bakery doesn't have cupcakes or coffee, or a way to process credit/debit cards. The outside looks old, and a lot of their equipment is broken (including all freezers) or filthy. So, cleaning is the first order of business, then some basic recipes (biscotti and cake) and decorating techniques (Buddy shows them how to do a basic cupcake, which lasts for 3 days and can be sold for $2). Buddy then teaches one of the kids to do a fondant cake, so when the bakery gets a cake order, they can handle it. [honestly, I wouldn't advertise that I could do custom fondant cakes without more practice than that!] 

Buddy has a construction crew re-do a lot of the bakery, and the wallpaper is even their pumpkin pie recipe! [that was cute.] They also now serve coffee, get a new cashier system and a credit card machine, and have some new recipes (biscotti, brownies, cannoli, chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon buns, cream puffs, crumb cake, danish, fruit pie, pinwheels, rice krispie treats, and sugar cookies). The final surprise: a delivery van. [1-800-CHARITY is who donated it.]

Three months later, business has tripled, the cupcakes are selling quickly, and the family is happier. [good for them.]