What does a race car pit crew have in common with Buddy and the famiglia?

02/17/2010

[From the TLC Editors: We’re sad to say that Cake Boss season two has come to a close. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have your cake and eat it, too -- you can find Buddy on Facebook and Twitter. And make sure to watch next week for the Best of Cake Boss on Monday at 9 p.m. Don’t forget that if you need a Buddy and familia fix, you can find stellar moments from the show here. One of our favorites? Mary’s Moments. In the meantime, we asked Buddy about the cake that almost “killed” him this season.]

TLC: What’s the most difficult cake challenge you’ve ever had?

Buddy: The [race car cake] was probably the most difficult. Most difficult in two senses. Most difficult just for pure size. The other thing was I had 50 people helping me. Do you know what it’s like to try to make sure 50 people are working together well? You know, it’s funny. I’m building a new facility to like help with the demand and stuff. And I had people come and watch us work to get a sense of how much space we need and whatever. One guy said, “I have never seen such controlled chaos.” He said, “This place is f***ing crazy. It’s chaos. But you have it figured out.” He couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Yeah, that’s kind of it, you know?”

What’s with all the yelling?

02/05/2010

[You asked “Hey, Buddy, what’s with all the yelling?” Check out Buddy’s answer below. So do any of you work with your family? If so, what’s it like? And if you don’t work with your family, would you ever consider it? Let us know by dropping off a comment below. If you’re in the neighborhood, drop by and see Buddy on Facebook and Twitter.]

TLC: Not everyone gets to experience the kind of tight long-term working relationships that you have. And not everyone works with their family. That’s got to bring a different dynamic to the table in the workplace. What’s it like to have such a strong bond with your staff within a high-pressure field?   

Buddy: Well, you know, that’s something I really love to talk about. You know, sometimes I see blog comments or I hear things like, “Oh, Buddy, you’re hard on your team or you’re this or you’re that.” Listen, I love my team. I mean, it’s my family and whatever. Sometimes they get the worst moment they could possibly get from me. And sometimes they [TLC] don’t show my family yelling back at me. They only show, like, I yell and this and that. It’s definitely a two way street.

But anybody who really knows me knows that I would take a bullet for anybody in my family. I mean I can understand people’s concerns, but I want them to know that I love my family and everybody. It’s a great relationship we have.

TLC: You’re also where the buck stops -- the guy responsible for the results.

Buddy: And it’s kind of like I’m their leader. I go out on the ledge for them and I make sure that everything is 100 percent. That’s just how I am. You know? So what I mean is that I’m blessed to have all those people work hard for me. But remember, if I didn’t work hard with them, they wouldn’t be working hard. You lead by example.

My father instilled in me to lead by example. If you want people to get on their hands and knees and scrub the floor, you got to be the first one to get down and dirty. And to this day I still get down and dirty.

What’s Buddy’s favorite cake of the season?

02/03/2010

[When you think of Buddy, Jacques Cousteau doesn’t necessarily come to mind. But Buddy donned a wet suit to get close to some of nature’s fiercest creatures: sharks. Check out this video of Buddy swimming with the sharks. What do you think Buddy’s next adventure should be? If you’re in the neighborhood, visit Buddy at Facebook and Twitter.]

TLC: What was your experience like at the Adventure Aquarium?

Buddy: I swam with sharks. That was pretty cool. I ain’t gonna lie, I was a little scared. 

TLC: Did they give you any assurances?   

Buddy: Yeah, they did. But you know, even when somebody tells you that [everything will be OK] and there’s shark swimming around ya, you know you really are a little bit more alert, you know? 

But that [aquarium] cake is actually one of my favorite cakes of the season because I put a fish tank in a cake with a live fish.  And I used so many different techniques.  And, you know, when you look from the fish tank through the cake, it looks like it was built inside the fish tank.  It was so cool. And then, you know it had that backdrop -- it looked the fish were swimming on my sugar coral reefs. 

Buddy and the Bronx Zoo

01/28/2010

[From the Editors: Buddy recently took a quick break from cake-making to talk to us about his research trip to the Bronx Zoo. Check out how this master baker took a few cues from a master builder, not to mention our four-legged friends at the zoo. Do you have a question for Buddy? Feel free to drop it off below. And if you’re in the neighborhood, visit Buddy on Facebook and Twitter.]

TLC: What was it like to make the Bronx Zoo cake?

Buddy: It was an awesome cake to make. You know, going to the zoo brought back a lot of memories from when I was a kid. Like going there with my school on a field trip. There’s certain cake decorating that I really enjoy. And, you know, making some of those animals really was like delicate work and really made me feel good to do that.

TLC: It must have been fun to be able to study the animals firsthand for the cake decorating. Sometimes we forget that we live on the planet with all these creatures, and all of the sudden it’s like, “Hey, there’s a giraffe!”

Buddy: I know. You’re sitting there looking at animals and you’re like, “Oh, crap, I got to go make a Cake!” It was funny. But it was really cool. And the detail we did on the one building was so amazing. It just was like layered, layered details. And, you know, the building is over 110 years old. They don’t build buildings like that anymore with that type of detail and that type of artistic expression. It kind of connected you with the guy who designed it. You know -- insight into his mind and what he was thinking.

Buddy's Desert Island Dessert

01/25/2010

[From the Editors]

Let's face it, we all have that dessert that we can't live without. So we asked Buddy a hypothetical question: You're stranded on a desert island and all you can dream about is getting back home and eating that one dessert again. So what is it? For Buddy, it's a no-brainer: lobster tails.

Makes sense. These pastry crustaceans are a labor-intensive, complicated treat to make. But they're worth it -- or so we hear. Some describe them as crunchy with a sweet and creamy inside. Others are more to the point: "killer." So how do you make them? See for yourself.

Do you have a desert-island or last meal dessert? Drop off your go-to dessert in a comment below. And if you're in the neighborhood, visit Buddy on Facebook and Twitter. And don't forget to check back with us later in the week for Buddy's commentary on the Bronx Zoo cake.