New Season, New Format

We're changing up our episode recaps and remarks for the new television season, mainly to shift our focus to covering new series and specials before they air rather than after. We believe this will help you make more fitting choices as to what to watch, and it will also help out our subscribers not to receive as many articles about shows they potentially have no interest in, as our current lineup is very broad.

But, we're not dropping recaps with remarks completely. We will still cover pilots we deem promising, and we'll be writing about holiday episodes of those and of our returning favorites. Plus, we are continuing to cover some series in their entirety, particularly cable shows that are tougher for you to catch up on elsewhere. What does this mean for your favorite show? For all of the series we were currently recapping, here are their fates:

                                                      16 & Pregnant: regular posting
                                                      19 Kids & Counting: regular posting
                                                      2 Broke Girls: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Bob's Burgers: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Buddy's Bakery Rescue: discontinued
                                                      Cake Boss: regular posting
                                                      Cake Boss: Next Great Baker: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      Falling Skies: discontinued
                                                      Girl Meets World: regular posting
                                                      Hot in Cleveland: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Instant Mom: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Last Man Standing: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Little People, Big World: regular posting
                                                      Melissa & Joey: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Mistresses: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      South Park: regular posting
                                                      Switched at Birth: regular posting
                                                      Teen Mom 2: regular posting
                                                      The Big Bang Theory: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      The Exes: regular posting
                                                      The Goldbergs: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      The Middle: holidays and special episodes only
                                                      Under the Dome: fate to be determined if series is renewed
                                                      White Collar: holidays and special episodes only

what do you think of the posting schedule? sad to be losing regular updates? excited for more new program coverage? 

SEASON FINALE: Next Great Baker: The End was a Flop

That's right, a late-night post about the Next Great Baker season finale! I think this is the first time in a long while where I was happy about the contestants who made it into the finale of a reality competition series. I would have been happy with either Blue or Black winning, and it was Buddy in whom I was really disappointed. The final cake challenge just didn't "pop" for me! I wasn't impressed with the fact that there was no baking or selling component to the challenge, either. I mean, the Elimination Round yielded more extravagant feats that the final! Anyway, I wish Al and Lia the best of luck, and hope to see them next time I'm in Las Vegas!

The finalists:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. They didn't know how to sculpt faces before this show. He started working in a bakery when he was 16; she's religious, to the extent that she carries prayer cards.
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. "Our style is extremely artistic."
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery.

For even more on the contestants, check out this, and be sure to scroll down for images of the latest masterpieces from the contestants!

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Vegas Showstoppers" (S04E10): Two teams will travel to Las Vegas, so there's an Elimination Challenge to determine who won't be competing. In seven hours, one of the teams will fail to have the "total package," which requires a giant Cupcake judged on flavor and appearance, a three-tiered piped cake, and a centerpiece to be judged on its chocolate, ribbon, sugar, and flower techniques. [I have that cupcake pan! I did a friend's 30th birthday cake a couple years ago and paired a giant cupcake with 30 minis. For what it's worth, I did an amaretto cake with amaretto cream filling, and I made a candy mold of the pan to use as the "cupcake wrapper."]

Blue: They do the cupcake and the piped cake first because they can whip them out, using a vanilla bean cake with strawberry filling. [I would've liked that recipe, actually.] For their centerpiece, they do modeling chocolate roses, which is new territory for them, plus Lia hasn't done sugarwork since culinary school. Their piping is, of course, beautiful, as are their roses. [I agree - so delicate!] The design of their centerpiece is inward, not outward, but with a delicious cupcake flavor to boot, they win.

Black: They're worried about the centerpiece (Manny had training in sugarwork but it's been years since he's consistently done it), so they focus on the molds and get it all done first. [I literally gasped when their pink piece fell off and shattered.] Manny starts the baking and fills the cupcake with chocolate ganache. [heh. I've only ever covered a cake in ganache - what a great idea to put it inside!] They go crazy with the roses and the piping, and end up with very nice sugar roses, though their cake is gaudy. [I agree with the team - it was very 1975!] The cupcake is very Dr. Seuss, but the taste of their cake may be the reason they're off to compete in Vegas!

Maroon: They focus on the cupcake, as "baking is not [their] forte." [um. remember the title of this show, guys?] The cake is firm and tastes dense to them, so they add an extra layer of frosting and pipe a large rose on top. The result is cartoony (positively, though), but it's rubbery. Kai hasn't done a lot of piping, but their tiered cake is lovable and clean. For the centerpiece, they pour teal sugar over a foil board, then cover it in plastic wrap as their base. They believe that they tried things they didn't previously know how to do, which is why they should stay, but it doesn't work out that way. [I was glad Buddy pointed out that they're not the only ones with children. I hate sob stories about how you need to do this for your kids.]

At the Venetian, the other competitors are there, and trash-talking starts. Then, we hear about the final feat: in 12 hours, make a Vegas-themed cake to be on display when the new bakery opens the next day. This means eye-catching is key, and to put on extra pressure, they decorate right in the hotel atrium! [only hearing from the Tan team who they were rooting for was odd.]

Black: They go for the Venetian fountain, but when they miscalculate the size, they lose about an hour of work. However, when the end result isn't straight, they have to further scrap their efforts to put together a tiered "waterfall" cake instead. [I didn't think their fountain was that bad...] They're still able to incorporate some hand-formed statues they already made, but the cake is STILL crooked, and the flowers are a little flat. Though they had a stronger vision, and they proved that "a champion finishes," they're at the end of the road.

Blue: They design a pagoda and go crazy on flowers for a cherry blossom tree. [Al has been quiet forever, but now he's chatty in Vegas?!] It's looking too Japanese, and Buddy suggests they do a topsy-turvy element or something to solidify it as Vegas, but they ignore that idea. [I'm surprised Buddy didn't address this, or at least in the judging that made it to air.] The result isn't the most fitting for an Italian bakery, but they once again prove that their work is solid. They win the job of running the Las Vegas Carlo's Bakery! Their families celebrate with them.

Next Great Baker: The Same Team Loses Twice

I'm really confused as to why the same four teams competed in two different cake challenges. Was it to get another episode into the season? Was Buddy that hell-bent on making sure Purple had another chance? Did something unseen by the audience take place that meant Purple didn't have a fair shot at the People cake? Regardless, I'm glad they've gone home. I'm a strong supporter of traditional education, so I'd much rather someone who has gone to pastry school or apprenticed for a bakery win this competition than someone whose abilities were learned from YouTube videos. I know that's a controversial position, especially in something creative like cake decorating, and that's why I'm not going to root for Maroon in the finale. In fact, I'm rooting for Black. Al & Manny have demonstrated a wider variety of skills than Al & Lia, even if the latter's work is generally cleaner. I'm sick of looking at wedding-esque cakes for every challenge, and I think the fondant and baking background of the guys is a big advantage for them as well. Now, historically, I was right about Ashley last season, so maybe I'm onto something. (the first two seasons, I really was only rooting against people and didn't particularly care who won out of the other contenders.)

The remaining teams [with my current thoughts]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. They didn't know how to sculpt faces before this show. He started working in a bakery when he was 16; she's religious, to the extent that she carries prayer cards. [I love to look at their work because it's impeccably clean for buttercream. but, it's also monotonous. ] 
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [They use color well, they have a good grasp on cake construction, but I'm so over listening to them drone on and on about Hawaii. Especially when they live in Utah, which is known for stuff like honey.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [They're not great at everything, but they work together well, have good concepts, and I'd totally hire them to do a cake for me. also, Al has the best poker face!]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known each other for almost 20 years. Bethany is self-taught, and neither girl has done a moving cake before. [I think of my sister and I when I see these two - we don't know exactly what we're doing, but if we don't aim too high, we can probably do well. however, we might need to cheat the system and hope others failed so we look good by comparison. you should really hear about the time we used Christmas cookie cutters on brownies...]

and, for even more on the contestants, check out this, and be sure to scroll down for images of the latest masterpieces from the teams!

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Sexiest Cakes Alive" (S04E08): [they're no calling the space they're in an arena??]

Cake Challenge: For People, each team has eight hours to make a motorized cake for the magazine's fortieth birthday. [53M people/week read People??] Michelle, the magazine's senior editor, is a guest judge, and the winning team will be featured, have a recipe published, and also receive a confection machine and decorating kit.

Blue: They decide to do a Royal Family Cake, with Al telling Lia to stick with what they know, so they focus on buttercream piping and molded jewels. [I would have liked to see more on how they got the jewels so shiny I'm guessing they're painted with piping gel?] It's a simple and safe cake that's a bit more wedding than birthday, but they still deliver on every element, winning them the round. Their recipe is for a chocolate cake with peanut butter filling, which the judges find good. [eh. I don't eat peanut butter so I'm not that interested in their recipe.]

Maroon: Their theme is Style Watch, with a spinning wedding dress covered in fondant instead of modeling chocolate to keep the weight down. [not the prettiest hem on the gown.]
The cake turns slowly and evenly, the details on the accessories are nice, but the dress itself is sloppy, and should have been done in chocolate. [I liked the design of the accessory podiums.] They forgot to frost their tasting cake, which would have topped their chocolate-coconut-cinnamon combo with a caramel-coconut flavor.

Black: They go with a Sexiest Man Alive cake, but it ends up being sexy to the point that it's almost x-rated. [yikes!] Because they're often accused of being sloppy, they re-cover a tier in fondant, try to center their hanging, spinning "40," and struggle to keep their fondant men together. [their lightning-fast blue lettering was awesome, though!] The spinning "40" isn't smooth, and their chocolate chip pound cake with white chocolate mousse filling and chocolate chips is rubbery. [I would have liked to try it, though.]

Purple: Their Red Carpet Cake tells a good story, but doesn't have a moving element, because the girls don't know how to do that. [I bet Al & Lia would have been nice enough to assist if asked...] To fit the theme, their tasting cake was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

Elimination Challenge gives Black and Purple one hour to make an Italian dessert. Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) is there to judge. [how random!]
Black does mini ricotta cheesecakes with a graham cracker crust, but they're overbaked, resulting in a gummy and chewy texture on a beautiful presentation. Buddy also rails them for not doing an Italian crust. [I prefer graham cracker on cheesecake, personally.]
Purple does an Italian cream puff with whipped pudding filling. When their pastry isn't coming together, they start over, but their large piping doesn't give the pastries time to bake, resulting in a bit of a mess. [I liked the note that the girls weren't using a convection oven because they're home bakers.] The consistency of the puff and the plainness of the filling are problematic, sending them home.

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Wow Cakes" (S04E09): Purple is brought back for another chance, but they must have a moving element this time. [why even eliminate them before, then??!? why not have a mini-challenge with other sent home teams to determine who should be the wild card??]

Cake Challenge: In ten hours, "wow" the judges with a cake, as well as 100 desserts or pastries. Patrons of the Carlo's Bakery near Times Square will judge, and their favorite will win a trip to Jamaica, plus safety from elimination this round. [I hate that crowd favorites win immunity - I'd much rather they just get a prize or something. have the professionals be the real judges, guys!]

Black: Their Jungle Cake features five large animals on a tree, playing to Al's strength of sculpted cakes and fondant creatures. [I thought the lion was the best of the zebra, elephant, gorilla, and cobra.] It's beautiful to admire, and they win for best cake. Meanwhile, Manny does a five-element chocolate mousse tower. [I would have loved to try that. those types of desserts are usually my weakness!] 

Maroon: An Underwater Cake features Kai's sugar art and a big turtle. The tiers are off-set, so there's a gravity-deying element in there, which must be enough to win the customers' vote, even if only by a single person. Kai is also in charge of their Hawaiian Chocolate Chip cookie (featuring Hawaiian salt and sugar, as well as toasted coconut) that's sugar-free, gluten-free, and organic. It's not a "wow" dessert for the judges. [and I'm surprised the New Yorkers really took to it - play to your audience, guys. oh, and I loved how Black was surprised when Maroon walked into the lounge!]

Blue: As they want to be the ones running the Vegas bakery, they create a Vegas Cake, with details of the card suites and some LEDs thrown in. [um, this is NOT "totally different" than their other cakes!] The details are mind-blowing and it's impeccable, but the wow-factor is lacking. While Al did most of the cake, Lia focused on lemon meringue tarts, which have a nice flavor and good crunch. 

Purple: They plan a floral wedding cake, with small layers to prevent too much weight on the turntable, which they struggle to figure out anyway. Their flowers are very time-consuming, and in the final 25 minutes they're rushing to complete a border and dust the flowers. The cake moves and it's clean, but it's also safe. [and boring, quite frankly.] Their dessert is a Texas Tea Cake, which is a shortbread-sugar cookie with rum-buttercream icing. They're bland and floury, and they're in the bottom due to their simplicity. 

DCL

Elimination Challenge: Frost, cover, and decorate (including buttercream roses) a two-tier cake in twenty minutes. This was the same challenge they did in auditions, so improvement needs to be seen. [why did we not get to see their original cakes?] Purple is better at fondant, Blue is better at piping. Both teams (plus the viewing teams) think Blue's cake is better, and aside from the top tier not being centered, Buddy agrees. Purple's color combination and fondant are nice, but there are sloppy elements, so this is the end of the line for them. [again!]

Meet the Remaining Season Four Next Great Baker Contestants

This season of Cake Boss: Next Great Baker is down to four teams from the original ten, so it's high time we dug up some more information on the contestants. Why? As the competition becomes fiercer, some people like to have additional ways to help narrow down who you root for to win it all. It also can be fun to share in the ever-growing "second screen experience," so you can follow along with the teams' twitter or facebook accounts to see how they're reacting to what makes it on the air. Personally, I lost some respect for the Black and Maroon teams through the process, but that would mean I'd be cheering on Blue, which I'm not confident about, either... take a read and see if any new information affects your favorite team.

facebook.com/pages/Wedding-Wonderland-Cake-Shop

Team Blue: Al Watson (31) & Lia Weber (24) of St. Louis, MO, are coworkers at the fondant-free Wedding Wonderland Cake Shop, where he is the manager and decorates, and she decorates and bakes. They didn't know how to sculpt faces before this show, and also aren't accustomed to working with wood, PVC, or cereal treats. Judging by the example cake from their shoppe (seen to the right), they are familiar with gumpaste flowers, and are extremely skilled at smoothing buttercream. He started working in a bakery when he was 16, and she's a culinary school graduate. He has a wife and child, she grew up the youngest of five in a poor, religious family.

Their internet presence is much more hers than his, though they have some joint ventures as well:
Team Twitter: @blueNGB
Team Facebook 
Wedding Wonderland Cake Shop Website
Wedding Wonderland Cake Shop Facebook Page
Al's Facebook
Lia's personal Facebook and professional Facebook, where she touts working outside of the bakery as well. Additionally, she is the pastry chef at Hendel's Market & Cafe.
Lia's Instagram

https://www.facebook.com/roxanne.bodell

Maroon: Kaiulani Delgado (32) & Roxanne Bodell (48) of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai, who initially auditioned for the third season of Next Great Baker, does amazing sugar work, apparent from the image to the right, a cake that her bakery made last year. She's also apparently self-taught. Unfortunately, she and her two children are also homeless. Rox also has children, and recently opened a salon, LAVA Style Bar and Lash Lounge. Together, the duo are referred to as the Kakedashians by their opponents, their bottoms often match, and they have demonstrated that driving is not their forte. They also use foul language, even in their bio video for TLC.

Their internet presence is wider than it is deep, but you can still learn quite a bit about the Hawaiian ladies.
Team Twitter: @KAIandROX
Team Facebook
Kai's Facebook
Rox's Facebook
Kailava Fine Sugar Artistry Website
Kailava Fine Sugar Artistry Facebook
LAVA Style Bar and Lash Lounge Website (which mentions they offer oracle readings, of all things)
LAVA Style Bar and Lash Lounge Facebook

http://www.dibartolobakery.com/wedding-cake-gallery

Black: Manny Agigian (34) & Al DiBartolo (39) of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together for four years at DiBartolo Bakery, which has been in Al's family since 1969. Al is the mastermind and artist, while Manny is the muscle and executor. This strategy seems to work well for them, as they've been pretty consistently impressive on the show. They hit the club and gym together, so they get along well. However, their bio video makes them seem like bad fathers ("you play dad for an hour after you're home from work, then you go out"). On the flip side, it also showcases their fancy rose work (check out the image to the right for some more of their abilities). 

Their internet presence is narrower, with less direct information being distributed by the guys, but they have a more extensive gallery of work, which is impressive in its own way.
Team Twitter: @ngbteamblack
Team Facebook
Team Instagram
Manny's Facebook
Al's Facebook
DiBartolo Bakery Website
DiBartolo Bakery Facebook

http://www.betniebakes.com/#!wedding/c204

Purple: Bethany Berend (34) & Jennifer Livermore (34) of Tomball, TX, met in a high school typing class and have known each other for almost 20 years. Bethany learned a lot of her decorating skills from television shows, but didn't even bake from anything but a boxed mix until just three years ago! She now runs a small business, Betnie Bakes, out of her home kitchen, but she still has great work, as seen to the right. Jennifer seems to work a Mary Kay-type independent job, but for Rodan + Fields, a skin care company.

Their internet presence is vastly Bethany's, and it seems that she's really made great strides since her first major cake in 2011.
Team Facebook
Jennifer's Facebook
Jennifer's business website
Bethany's Facebook (where it looks like she recently married and changed her last name to Davis)
Bethany's Twitter
Bethany's Pinterest
Betnie Bakes Website
Betnie Bakes Blog
Betnie Bakes Facebook

Next Great Baker: One Team Sweeps the Episode!

I feel like this season has been really light on the baking in lieu of more decorating challenges. While this is "prettier" for the audience at home, those who take the entire field more seriously are left wanting more. Similarly, the room in which the contestants are working doesn't resemble a bakery. It's been like this all season, but the change has really gotten to me now that there are fewer teams and the background is more noticeable - it looks like a television studio, not a kitchen where you'd get things done! I don't know that this series will last a fifth season (there's no casting call currently), so maybe it's time to put Buddy Valastro back where he's best: on Cake Boss, rather than Next Great Baker, the failed Kitchen Boss, or the flailing Buddy's Bakery Rescue. 

The remaining teams [with my current thoughts]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. They didn't know how to sculpt faces before this show. He started working in a bakery when he was 16, she's religious. [I think they're probably the most balanced team left in the game.] 
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [I think their luck is running out.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [I've gotta say, they're really starting to impress me!]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. He's 27, she's 50 and worried that she's not experiences enough to be competing. [I'm still wondering what her strengths are!]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known each other for almost 20 years. Bethany is self-taught. [I think they do well with the level of ability they have.]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Gravity Defying Cakes" (S04E07): The purple team has 50 pesos under their table, and have randomly won a vacation for four to Cabo San Lucas. [the type of prizes won by sheer luck like this always get on my nerves!] But, to get the trip, they'll have to work by themselves instead of with another team, though they will get to choose which pairs make up their competition. [if I was them, I would've taken the trip, too, because it guarantees they get something, and I'm hard-pressed to see them winning it all at this point.]  

Cake Challenge: In eight hours, create a gravity-defying cake for The Rachael Ray Show.

Purple: They design a wine barrel with a wine bottle pouring into a glass, and are banking on their clean work winning it for them. They add some grapes and cheese, though the judges note there was no knife or bread. [details!] However, the cake is clean, well-proportioned, and meets the challenge in a way the other cakes don't, so they win! The audience at Rachael Ray also pick their cake as the best, netting them $7,000 of cookware and cutlery!  

TLC

Black & Blue: They start with a retro stove, put a pan on it, and build straight up from there. It's an ambitious project, and Lia is concerned about messy work. But, the bigger problem is that the cake takes a tumble when they go to move it. Al was in charge of the structure, so he knows it should have been tighter. There are also some details missing. [if this season sent people home the same way as the first three seasons, Blue would be a major contender!]

Maroon & Brown: Their plan is to create a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Aimee is nervous about not knowing how to do what's required, and Jose lets Kai take the lead. However, her isomalt beads can't be made quickly and nicely, so she puts Aimee to work making modeling chocolate discs. However, they still repeatedly fall off... and by the time the cake arrives at the show, it looks really banged up! Plus, a piece of the border falls before judging even happens! [why is the inside of the chandelier blue??]

Elimination Challenge: All four of the bottom teams must make a bouquet of flowers for the top of a cake in one hour. Judging is based on technique and visual appeal. [My carnations are my most beautiful gumpaste flower, so I would have done those, some buttercream roses, and gumpaste mums. Oh, and I think I would have had my partner basketweave the sides of the cake, then throw on some clusters of violets with leaves or rosebuds on vines.]

Black: Al is fast and fancy with tipped roses. [holy cow they were great!] They're the favorite.
Blue: They make buttercream flowers, but Al does them instead of Lia, and he's not that experienced. The proportions are nice, the layout is good, but the petals are pointy. [I thought the pinecone comparison was spot-on.] They're in second place, though Maroon thinks their flowers aren't realistic.
Maroon: They do a simple three-rose modeling chocolate bouquet with a realistic effect, but the roses are breaking and the airbrushed sides take away from the overall look. [They've been in the bottom three times now!]
Brown: Jose covers the cake and makes ten flowers, Aimee pipes. It's too yellow and the piping is amateur, sending them home. [I liked Jose, but I guess Aimee wasn't the best partner for him.]

Next Great Baker: Another TLC Crossover

I'll admit it: this is one of the only shows that I try to watch as close to live as possible. I generally don't care about spoilers (and sometimes look them up during a show because I can't stand waiting to find out what's going to happen), but with this particular competition series, I want to be able to assess the contestants alongside Buddy and the other judges. That said, life-size cakes are NOT the ones that I remember most from every season! [the past themes were Comediennes in S3, Buddy's sisters in S2, and there was no such challenge in S1!] Now that we've knocked out the team I've been against since the start of the season, I'm more excited to see what happens in the remaining episodes.

The remaining teams [with my current thoughts]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. She's also religious. [They have no face-sculpting experience, so it was interesting to see what they could come up with.] 
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [their talent is still impressive, even if I don't care for them as people.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [their strengths haven't been showcased lately, but still strong competitors.]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [I still want to see what Aimee can do.]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [meh. I kinda think they're average at this, in comparison. ]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [they're the only home bakers left in this game, apparently, so I'm intrigued to see how much longer they'll last...]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Long Island Medium Cakes" (S04E06): [boring episode title, huh?]

Cake Challenge: In 12 hours, make a life-size cake of Theresa Caputo, who will judge alongside her husband, Larry. [she has some huge nails!] The winning cake will go to a charity event for an Off-Broadway theater. [interesting cause.] Buddy lets Teresa use her "vibes" to create the teams. [but I kinda don't feel like she did?] The winning team will get a year's worth of Satin Ice fondant, and because of structural failures last episode, Buddy gives some building suggestions. 

Black, Brown, Purple. Manny isn't happy about the teams. When they measure Theresa, she senses Jose has a deceased brother. [or, you know, guesses from his tattoo.] Jose helps Al figure out how to do the face, but when he struggles, Jose takes over. The result is still pretty masculine, plus the stance is strange and the torso is too long. Still, Theresa finds it very detailed, so they win.

Blue, Maroon, Tan. They shrink Theresa down a little to be more flattering, and Meredith tries to add in her knowledge of the Long Island Medium show by building a tape recorder accessory, which Theresa carries on the series. Theresa likes the shape, but the hands are flat and the hair is wrong. [Don did the hands.] 

TLC

Elimination Challenge: Sculpt a judge's face in one hour. [this seems like a complicated task for two people to work on together, no?]

Maroon does Jacques. Kai does the bulk of the face while Rox does the nose and ears. The nose is too skinny, but the finish is good. Theirs is the favorite.

Blue does Buddy, with Al focusing on the face and Lia doing the ears and nose. They do black buttercream hair in the final two minutes. The end result is cartoony and a bit out of proportion. [the Black team being excited when they saw who was still in the game was interesting... I'm guessing they don't see Blue as a threat?]

Tan does Bobbie, with Don focusing on the face while Meredith does details. [I didn't see the likeness at all.] The top features are less like her, and are more masculine. It's not recognizable, and that loses it for them.

Next Great Baker: Horror-Themed Cakes

With the design of this season having teams created by pairs of bakers, it's tough to see where individual strengths lie. Plus, we're seeing a lot more from certain teams than from others, so it's tougher to form an opinion on Purple or Tan than it is about Black or Maroon. The mix of home bakers with semi-professional or professional bakers also makes judging the teams difficult. I'm still without a clear favorite, though the leaders are definitely pulling away from the pack at this point. When we're down to five teams, I'll do what I did at the start of last season and look at the backgrounds of the competitors more closely, which should help me (and probably others) begin to actually root for a winner. 

The remaining teams [with my current thoughts]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. She's also religious. [I'm for them continuing.] 
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [they'll probably get pretty far, but I don't like them.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [these guys have talent, and they should go farther.]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [I'd like to see where Aimee's strengths are....]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [I'm kinda over them.]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [They're not very interesting. Bethany is grossed out by this stuff.]
Red: David & Elaine of Kissimmee, FL are husband and wife. She's full-time and would love a storefront. He's an amateur. [they need to go home.]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Nightmare on Baker Street" (S04E05): Because nobody was sent home in the previous episode, Buddy starts off with an Elimination Challenge: In one hour, make your best chocolate chip cookie. [sounds like a fantastic round!] Meredith is worried that they won't measure up, but nobody else seems that concerned. [well, yeah. if you don't have a killer chocolate chip cookie recipe, go back to the kitchen!] Soon, the lights go out and some mixing bowls tumble to the ground, and Buddy admits that this was all an introduction to get the contestants scared and in the mood for the theme: scary. [boo. I really wanted there to be a cookie winner!]

Cake Challenge: Do a guts & gore cake for adults, not kids, in seven hours. It'll be presented to the famous Robert Englund (Freddie Krueger) at Times Scare. The three teams are randomized, based on the color filling inside a cake each slices. A couple hours in, Buddy pulls out some straightjackets, and each team must have an hour of handicap with a team member (two on the big team) in the jacket. [I would have freaked out! having other teams choose who is locked up was interesting.] Later, when the cakes arrive, two of the cakes suffered injuries in transit. [why show the Hoboken bus terminal?]

Red: Al & Lia, Bethany & Jennifer, Jose & Aimee. Al suggests a devil-puppet in a sarcophagus, though Jose was thinking sexy dominatrix. [I thought Al had a creepy idea.] They follow Jose's lead, but the end result is a cake that requires explanation, though it has good detail. The face is too cartoonish, the arms are too thin, and the only reason they win instead of come in third is because their cake traveled safely. [I didn't like the face.] Jose & Al were the jacketed individuals.

Chocolate: Kai & Rox, Don & Meredith. Kai designs a bride holding a bloody heart, though Don had other ideas. There are good fabric details, and it has a great face, so it would have won in design. [the date could be March 9th, as noted in the detail of the cake's marriage license.] Kai is put in the jacket.

TLC

White: Al & Manny, David & Elaine. Al & Manny want a gory baker zombie, and they are very detail-oriented. It's done well and realistically, but they still come in third. Al goes in the jacket but jumps on the table and uses a dowel with his mouth to keep giving directions. [that's dedication right there!]

Elimination Challenge: In one hour, create a dessert plate using at least one "scary" ingredient (Mexican grasshoppers, pork belly, wasabi, dragonfruit, chili powder, blue cheese).

Al & Manny do a biscuit with wasabi, blue cheese, chili powder, and dragonfruit, then do a chocolate cake with pork belly and garnish the dish with chocolate grasshoppers. [I would have fried up the pork a bit first!] The biscuit is a little dry, but good.

David & Elaine put blue cheese in the cream cheese frosting for red velvet cupcakes, and add some dragonfruit juice drizzle. The chocolate bowl is too bitter, and the blue cheese flavor is masked. [that was Elaine's intention, which was a bit off-the-mark.] Their presentation was good, but they just weren't ambitious enough.

Next Great Baker: Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

Giant, life-like replica cakes really "wow" people, and longtime Cake Boss audiences are well aware of that - MANY cakes Carlo's Bakery has filmed over the years have been replicas of animals, buildings, and even people. They're a lot of work, and I imagine those with less fondant experience really struggled in this round. I probably wouldn't have added the ants (and I'm surprised Buddy didn't comment on them), but they did bring a little something extra to the table. However, this is the exact reason why I'm surprised that Buddy declared the challenge a tie... I thought that the lack of proportion on the hot dog cake was a real detractor from the masterpiece! But, I'm not a famous, experienced baker, and maybe it came off more impressive in person than it did on the camera.

DCL

The remaining teams [with my current thoughts]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop, where he strictly decorates, and she decorates and bakes. [I like the job they do.] 
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [they're boring. I'm ready to send them home.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [meh.]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [I'm over these guys.]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [maybe there's potential there.]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [they're not interesting enough.]
Red: David & Elaine of Kissimmee, FL are husband and wife. She's full-time and would love a storefront. He's an amateur. [I refuse to get past the fact that he has no experience.]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Buddy's Winter BBQ" (S04E04): Damian Mandola (co-founder of Carraba's) has a mini-challenge for the teams: try a spin on the Tuscan pound cake from the restaurant's summer grilling menu, and the winner will get their item on the menu! [I loved that Damian used the word "agreeance" instead of "agreement." I did that once in grad school and didn't live it down for quite a while!] Teams only have 15 minutes, can only use ingredients the restaurant already stocks, and the cake must be grilled.

Don & Meredith do a Summer Napoleon Pound Cake with pastry cream, grilled pineapple, browned coconut, and brown sugar.
Manny & Al do a Berry Pound Cake with Ricotta Whipped Cream, using reduced strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries with some balsamic.
Jose & Aimee go with a Grilled Pound Cake with strawberry bruschetta, but don't start looking for the balsamic in time. Despite the marscapone inside, it's little dry.
Bethany & Jennifer do a Peach Raspberry Rum Pound Cake. Even with grilled peaches, it's dry... plus the raspberry seeds are a turn-off. [yeah, I don't eat raspberry anything because the seeds bother me!] 
Al & Lia have Pineapple Upside-Down Pound Cake with chopped pineapples, cherries, a caramelized glaze, and walnuts. [you had me until the walnuts!]
Kai & Rox have Tropical Summer Pound Cake, with rum-pineapple-honey reduction sauce, but they left the skin on the pineapple.
David & Elaine do River of Pineapple Pound Cake with pineapple, coconut, and strawberry. [and they almost didn't get the pineapple - they had to use what was left of Don & Meredith's!] They win, though! 

The Cake Challenge has Buddy asking for a four-foot-across hamburger cake, and a six-foot-long hotdog cake. David & Elaine will get to choose which team they get to join after Buddy assigns the others. Teams get 7 hours to create, then they must deliver them to a Valastro family BBQ. About halfway through the challenge, David & Elaine are offered immunity to switch teams, but they can't qualify for MVP that way. They take the option anyway. [I probably would in their position, too.]

Don & Meredith, Al & Lia, Al & Manny, David & Elaine at the beginning. They get the hot dog and work hard on proportions and shape, and struggle to cover the hotdog with fondant. [That's a huge piece of fondant! hoe did they even roll it out long enough??] The relish in particular is very realistic, but the onions look really tiny in comparison.

Kai & Rox, Jose & Aimee, Bethany & Jennifer, David & Elaine at the end. They pick the hamburger and decide to do buttercream and airbrushing on the bun instead of fondant. Jose makes ants for BBQ decoration. 

Buddy decides that the cakes tie, so nobody goes home. [dang.] He asks each person who should be MVP... Al & Lia suggest Don & Meredith, Al & Manny think the other Al, Don thinks Jose, Jose & Aimee pick Kai,  Bethany & Jennifer go for Jose, Kai & Rox go Jose, and David & Elaine back Jose as well. Jose wins $5,000 from Carraba's and will get to eat there for free for a year.

Next Great Baker: No Frontrunners

The thing about reality competition shows is that the contestants need to matter to the viewers. Some people will tune into American Idol to hear anyone sing song after song, or So You Think You Can Dance to watch routine after routine, and some will even keep tuning into Next Great Baker just to see the process and products. But, it's just not as interesting if you're not rooting for anyone! Someone from your hometown, your alma mater, even someone with your name become great options. If you have no similarities there, you can go for the person you think is most attractive or most talented... but what happens when it's still "none of the above" ?? Three episodes into the season, I'm not partial to any of the teams (and this may be because they're teams and not individuals), though if I had to root for someone, I'd go with Blue, as Al & Lia because their Chinatown cake was impressive. Are you finding it difficult to pick a favorite this season, or are you on the sidelines rooting for a color?

The remaining teams [with my thoughts up to this point]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop. [I'm gaining interest in them as they continue to showcase their abilities.]
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Kai and her two kids are currently homeless. Other bakers are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [they're just kinda there.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [they're getting snarkier...]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [take 'em or leave 'em.]
Pink: Danielle & Julie of Johnson City, TN, are a mother-daughter team. Danielle is the oldest of seven kids. Julie bakes for churches, and Danielle has only joined in the past six months. [let's get rid of them eh? they're out of their league.]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [nothing outstanding here.]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [still just shrugging.]
Red: David & Elaine of Kissimmee, FL are husband and wife. She's full-time and would love a storefront. He's an amateur. [we see next to nothing of their work in this episode, so nothing new to add.]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Desination Wedding!" (S04E03): Buddy picks four teams of four this time, and each will have eight hours to make a destination wedding cake. The twist is that they can only communicate as a team for an hour, because after that only two people will be able to work on it at a time. [so they appear to have only 18 man-hours instead of 32!] They get random destinations, and the Guest Judges are Sean & Catherine Lowe, of season 17 of The Bachelor. Some of the teams struggle more than others, but their dynamics aren't examined very thoroughly before there's only 3.5 hours left and the teams are allowed to re-combine. Let's look at them from best to worst...

Al & Lia, David & Elaine do Paris with intricate pressed linen flowers, an Eiffel Tower topper, and a gold Versailles arch. Al & Lia do 40-50 wedding cakes each week, so Lia is comfortable working away on the details, which results in a very clean cake. The breakdown is David & Lia, Al & Elaine, but the big problem is that their monument isn't proportional, though they still win the round and earn gift cards to buy kitchen accessories. [I agree that it was a fat-bottomed tower!]

Manny & Al, Jose & Aimee go big with New Orleans, planning a six-tier Mardi Gras wedding cake. Al doesn't like the bottom layer, so he changes it... and then Jose changes it again, then takes the lead on the project when the group combines. They have one problem after another, but the biggest issue is that the cake is leaning unintentionally. [did they not use dowels?] None of them want to be the speaker for the project, and Buddy can see there's a lot of cover-up work. Jose mentions to the judges that he wonders if the other team was trying to sabotage the project. [that wasn't great...]

Bethany & Jennifer, Don & Meredith have Hawaii as their theme and they do it well... except it's just tropical without a wedding flair. They have a five-tier, beach to water to sky natural progression, topped with male and female tiki masks. Don & Jennifer, Bethany & Meredith are the breakdowns, and they all use a lot of airbrushing and fondant flowers on the cake. The bamboo didn't dimensionalize well, resulting in a skyline effect. 

Kai & Rox, Danielle & Julie run with their Las Vegas theme, though the pink team has never been there. Kai takes the lead, and although they're going for sophistication, they don't get elegant, they get kitschy and sloppy. Rox & Danielle struggle when Kai & Julie had to switch in the middle of mixing the batter, so they have to guess if there are ingredients not in it yet! The end result doesn't feel like a wedding cake, so they lose out and have to deal with the possibility going home.

Elimination Challenge: Make a dessert centerpiece that excels in both taste and visual appeal... in 60 minutes. Stick with the destination theme, but choose any of the four cities.
Kai & Rox: They choose Hawaii and bake a chantilly cake with coconut and Macadamia nuts. [of course. everything they do is Hawaii!] They also do sugarwork, which adds great height to the design. [I was wondering if they'd finish in time, though, with Kai being so distracted about being in the bottom!]
Danielle & Julie: They plan to stick with the Vegas theme, and bake cupcakes designed to be in a tower/stand formation. Julie bakes, Danielle decorates, and they have a great cookies-and-cream cupcake with raspberry ganache. However, they don't have time to make the structure work, so they only have a platter of cupcakes to show and lose. [same way Fred & Barry lost last time!]

Next Great Baker: Time Management is Key

I've been watching baking shows for years now, and I am an amateur baker, doing cakes for friends' birthdays and the like. I often get jealous of the large workspaces, great tools, and prepared icings and fondants on series such as these, but I finally came to the realization of what I envy most: the team aspect. Much of the time, I bake and decorate alone, which takes a great deal more time than I always feel like it should, but I generally attribute that to the fact that I'm a perfectionist. Nope... I'm pretty sure the bigger problem is that I'm only one person. In this episode, the contestants began to get a feel for what the others think of them, and also how other team dynamics function. It was particularly interesting that Buddy allowed them to choose their own teams (I'm slightly suspicious of producer pressure there), though I am a bit sad over the team which got the boot this time... I think they could have had some very interesting future work to show as well.

The remaining teams [with my thoughts up to this point]:
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop. [they're okay.]
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Others are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [not a fan of their personalities and agenda.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [nice guys.]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [take 'em or leave 'em.]
Pink: Danielle & Julie of Johnson City, TN, are a mother-daughter team. Danielle is the oldest of seven kids. Julie bakes for churches, and Danielle has only joined in the past six months. [they're not good enough for this game.]
Teal: Fred & Barry of Las Vegas - pastry chefs. [they'll come up with awesome stuff, right?]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [take 'em or leave 'em.]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [not a fan.]
Red: David & Elaine of Kissimmee, FL are husband and wife. She's full-time and would love a storefront. He's an amateur. [I don't think they belong here and I will fully give up on this show if they win.] 

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Sugar High" (S04E02): There's about a thousand pounds of candy available, and three teams of six will create cakes that use 100 pounds of candy each. They'll have eight hours, and will need to get it up three flights of stairs upon delivery. [SO HEAVY!] Dylan Lauren will be guest-judging, but the kids' favorite will be safe from elimination. [interesting twist...]

Rox & Kai, David & Elaine, Manny & Al: Elaine thinks candy factory, but they aren't utilizing enough cake and have to add in more. [good. I hate when designs ignore the fact that it's a cake first!] It could have used candy in more ways, as it didn't look like all 100 pounds was on there, and they're judged to be the middle-ground cake.

Fred & Barry, Julie & Danielle, Jennifer & Bethany. Fred thinks a gumball machine with a big teddy bear would be a good idea, but when Fred and Barry are told to play to their strengths and do more sugarwork, they wind up not paying enough attention and the design doesn't get executed properly. [eh. kinda set-up to fail in that respect.] The purple team doesn't like the pink team's lollipop, so they pull it off... and Pink puts a confetti canon in its place. [both acts seems random and childish, happening without communication.] The execution is simple, and the gumball machine should have used more candy, so they are judged to be worst cake, and must face the Elimination Challenge.

Jose & Aimee, Don & Meredith, Al & Lia: Jose wants a candy racetrack mountain cake, with various lands covered in different candies. [cool idea. very Wreck-It Ralph.] The rotating platform gets icing in the ball bearings and doesn't spin by the time it gets to judging. [boo!] It has a great 360 factor, though, and not only is it the best, but it also wins the kids' vote. [nice.]

The Elimination Challenge: The bottom three teams must make a candybar in 30 minutes, using any ingredients in the pantry.

Fred & Barry go with a chocolate-based bar but time is not in their favor, and they have to run to the freezer so the chocolate can set, but even then they can't get them out of the mold. They're eliminated without the other bars even being tasted. [dang.]

Julie & Danielle go with a no-bake cookie bar.
Jennifer & Bethany make a peanut butter bar that doesn't bake all the way through, so they cut it out of the pan differently.

RETURNING: Next Great Baker: Ten Teams in the Game

This season, a lot has changed. Not only have the competitors gone from a baker's dozen individuals to ten teams, but two non-Carlo's employees are also judging: Jacques Torres and Bobbie Lloyd. Plus, the winners will get to run the Las Vegas location of Carlo's Bakery, which is a much bigger deal than becoming interns in the Hoboken/Lackawanna location. The size of the competition space is also much larger, but The Baker's Challenge is gone... instead, the bottom teams from The Cake Challenge will have to go through an elimination challenge.

facebook.com/nextgreatbaker

The teams (left to right):
Blue: Al & Lia of St. Louise, MO, coworkers at a fondant-free cake shop. [no fondant experience is not a good thing.]
Maroon: Kaiulani & Roxanne of Salt Lake City are niece & aunt perfectionists. Others are referring to them as the Kakedashians. [meh.]
Black: Manny & Al of Woolwich, NJ, have been working together four years. Al has a family bakery. [good base.]
Brown: Jose and Aimee of Chula Vista, CA are coworkers. [accustomed to working together is a good thing.]
Grey: Ginger & Brandy of Virginia Beach, VA, who are teacher and student. [I see a power struggle here.]
Pink: Danielle & Julie of Johnson City, TN, are a mother-daughter team. Danielle is the oldest of seven kids. Julie bakes for churches, and Danielle has only joined in the past six months. [too amateur.]
Teal: Fred & Barry of Las Vegas - pastry chefs. [that's cool.]
Tan: Don & Meredith, of Long Island, are coworkers, with him designing and her baking. She also was his kids' nanny. [odd relationship.]
Purple: Bethany & Jennifer of Tomball, TX, who have known eachother for almost 20 years. [meh.]
Red: David & Elaine of Kissimmee, FL are husband and wife. She's full-time and would love a storefront. He's an amateur. [he doesn't know what he's doing? why are they on this show?]

Cake Boss: Next Great Baker "Empire State of Mind" (S04E01): To get to know everyone, Buddy has the teams make a dessert in 45 minutes that represents your hometown. In order from worst to best:
David & Elaine make a chocolate cake with citrus shavings, but it doesn't bake fast enough, so they serve accessorized batter. [bleh]
Ginger & Brandy go for a roasted strawberry cupcake in deconstructed form. [interesting choice.] We learn that Ginger likes to be in charge, and that results in too-sweet icing. 
Manny & Al make a traditional sweet dough butter cake, which generally rises overnight, so it fails to meet Buddy's standards.
Fred & Barry do a showy bananas foster. They're told not to have a chunk of chocolate, and the flavor wasn't huge.
Jose & Aimee make a tres leches cake, which is good sponge but it's not drenched.
Kai & Rox do banana cake, which is a traditional pioneer dessert. It has a good flavor.
Bethany & Jennifer do Crazy Cake with a pecan topping. It's moist and rich, but could be more chocolatey.
Don & Meredith do zeppoles filled with ricotta, which are delicious, but a bit well done. [I don't think I've had filled zeppoles before!] 
Al & Lia make gooey butter cake, which is moist and flavorful.
Danielle & Julie make Cinnamon Roll Biscuits - Mountain South cuisine. It's great. [and my husband can't wait for me to make this, LoL.]

Cake Challenge: In four hours, create a cake Inspired by a specific part of NYC. Each team will have four hours to travel to a location, complete an activity, and return, with teams choosing locations based on how well they did in the previous challenge. The teams drive themselves in vans. [I think for some of these, I would have rather gone with public transit!] If they return early, they can start working on their cake, but they will have eight hours the following day as well. [time-wise, there's snow on the ground.] Let's look at how the teams did in three groups: the best cakes, the average cakes, and the worst cake...

The Best Group: 
Manny & Al have the "Watch your weight at Katz's" challenge, where Frankie has them each eat a two-pound pastrami sandwich. [I've been to Katz's, and their sandwiches are enormous, but I can't imagine trying to eat that much!] They do a meat counter and sandwiches for their cake that is well done and clean, but the overall product was short in height.
Al & Lia choose "No soup for you in Chinatown" where they must go to Joe's Shanghai and meet Grace, who has them make twelve dumplings. [kinda neat.] They get back with about an hour to go and create a cake that features a tenement building, a steamer, a Chinese food to-go box, and dumplings. The board is sloppy, but it gets the theme nicely.
Kai & Rox get to "Rally for Lady Liberty," but are off to a rocky start when they get into an accident on the way that takes about two hours to resolve. [did they not have a penalty for not finishing in four hours?] When they reach Madeline, they take the Staten Island Ferry and get ten Americans to sing the National Anthem with them. [this is a tricky challenge anyway, as that ferry only runs every half hour!] Their cake is an ambitious Hawaiian woman with a tiki torch as the Statue of Liberty. The cake doesn't necessarily speak for itself, though it has great modeling chocolate work. [funny that they incorporate the crashed car into the pedestal.] They win for best cake, and win a trip to New York City. [It would have been funny if locals Manny & Al had won!]

The Middle Group:
Don & Meredith choose "Play tag in the Bronx" and Marissa has them graffiti a wall. [I'd probably have some fun with that.] They do some airbrushing on their cake design, but they don't finish the back and the overall look is sectional.
Bethany & Jennifer choose "Chill out in Coney Island" and Mauro makes them join the polar bear club - 60 seconds in the ocean. [um, it takes forever to get to Coney Island, so I wouldn't have picked that location!] They have great detail in the look of Coney Island, but you can see the base.
Jose & Aimee "Horse around in Central Park" and ride in a horse-drawn carriage with Mary. [easy task!] Their cake shows a lot of the things in the park, but the back of the cakeboard wasn't covered.
Fred & Barry "Bridge the Gap Brooklyn Style" and WifeLisa has the guys ride a tandem bike across the bridge and back. But, hurts his Achilles tendon and they have to walk the bike across. [ouch!] Their cake is a mess of a suspension bridge, it's sloppy, the proportions are incorrect, and the board is unfinished board. [and yet, it's still not in the bottom...] 

The Bottom Group:
Danielle & Julie choose "Take a break in Washington Square" where SisterLisa asks them to breakdance for a crowd. They're back in just over two hours, so they plan their cake to have an arch and a fountain. Their fondant work is ROUGH, and the weight of the cake is too much for a rotating motor, so they ditch a tier to make it work. Buddy sees a lot of unfinished details, but they're safe from the Elimination Challenge because they won the introductory round. 
Ginger & Brandy "Figure it out at Bryant Park" by figure skating ten laps around the ice skating rink, where Maurizio is. Their cake highlights the cityscape, the big apple, a Tiffany's box, and the ice skating, but it's short, plain, tough to see all of the different sides, and not enough for eight hours of work.
David & Elaine "Jazz it up in Harlem" where Danny has them play the electric guitar with a band. [not hard to do as a gag, but probably pretty embarrassing!] They use a lot of musical details and other NYC favorites like pizza and hot dogs, but the back of the cake is empty, and they're told they played it safe.

Elimination Challenge: Make an apple dessert in one hour. [neat that the other teams as well as the judges were able to watch via closed circuit.]

David & Elaine: They try to make their chocolate cake again, and add caramelized apples add some heart & letter cut-outs. [chocolate and apple?] Great presentation, good taste, but not very apple-y.
Ginger & Brandy: They make an apple cake with whipped ricotta, topped with caramelized apple. The judges are underwhelmed by the flavor, though it was good. They lose and are sent home.

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?]