Cake Boss facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cake Boss
Genre	Reality
Presented by	Buddy Valastro
Opening theme	"Sugar, Sugar"
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	247 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Scott Feeley Jim Berger Buddy Valastro Art Edwards
Producer(s)	Laney McVicker Casey Bauer
Editor(s)	David T McCurley Patrick Bryant Christopher Schultz David Miers Stacey Martins
Running time	22 minutes 42 minutes (specials)
Production company(s)	High Noon Entertainment Cakehouse Media
Release
Original network	TLC (2009–17) Discovery Family (2019–20)
Original release	April 19, 2009 (2009-04-19) – April 11, 2020 (2020-04-11)
Chronology
Related shows	Next Great Baker Kitchen Boss Bake You Rich Bakery Boss

Cake Boss is an American reality television series, which originally aired on the cable television network TLC. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, and has spawned four spin-offs: Next Great Baker, Kitchen Boss, Bake You Rich, and Bakery Boss.

On January 26, 2015, Cake Boss was renewed for two additional seasons.

New episodes returned on May 18, 2019, with the show moving to TLC's sister network, Discovery Family until April 11, 2020.

Plot

The show follows the operations of Carlo's Bake Shop, an Italian-American family-owned business in Hoboken, New Jersey owned and operated by siblings Buddy Valastro (to whom the series' title refers), Lisa Valastro (Buddy's wife), Maddalena Castano, Grace Faugno and Mary Sciarrone. The show focuses on how they make their edible art cakes and the interpersonal relationships among the various family members and other employees who work at the shop.

Cast

Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the series is filmed.

• Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Jr. (born March 3, 1977) – The star of the show, who has worked at the bakery since age 17 in 1994. He is the only son and the youngest child of Bartolo "Buddy" Sr. and Mary Valastro. He grew up in Little Ferry, New Jersey. He is married to Elisabetta "Lisa" Valastro (née Belgiovine) with whom he has four children: Sofia, Bartolo "Buddy" III, Marco, and Carlo. In 2012, as a result of the attention that the series brought to Hoboken, New Jersey, the Hudson Reporter named him as an honorable mention in its list of Hudson County's 50 most influential people.
• Mauro Castano (born August 18, 1963) – pastry chef and Buddy's right-hand man. He is married to Buddy's second-oldest sister, Maddalena. He was born in Milan, and left Italy when he was 12. He arrived in the USA on February 15, 1976. His father is from Bernalda, Basilicata and his mother from near Reggio Emilia, Emilia Romagna. On September 16, 1989, he had his first date with Maddalena (her father orchestrated all), and in October 1991 they married.
• Joseph "Joey" Faugno (born October 10, 1967) – The shop's head baker. He is married to Buddy's oldest sister, Grace. They have two children: Robert and Bartolina.
• Frank "Frankie" Amato Jr. (born August 29, 1978) – cake decorator. He is Buddy's second cousin and godfather to his son Marco, with two children of his own.
• Danny Dragone – a multipurpose employee who has worked at the bakery since before Buddy was born. He is a close family friend, and his daughter, Tatiana, works at the bakery. He is nicknamed "the mule" for his versatility.
• Grace Faugno (née Valastro) – (born June 30, 1966) Buddy's oldest sister. She works the front counter and in later season in the decoration and delivery from special orders. She is married to Joey Faugno, the shop's head baker. They have two children: Robert and Bartolina.
• Maddalena Castano (née Valastro) (born August 15, 1967) – manages the front counter. She is married to Mauro. They have three children: Dominique, Bartolo "Buddy", and Mary.
• Mary Sciarrone (née Valastro) (born September 30, 1969) – Cake Consultant and Buddy's third-oldest sister. She is married with two children: Joseph and Lucia. In the fifth-season episode Trash, Twirls & Tough Love ", she was fired because of multiple incidents involving her making inappropriate statements. Mary was rehired as a cake consultant a few weeks after being fired. She returned to full-time work at the bakery in the episode "Silly Seuss & Surprise!".
• Lisa Valastro (born December 31, 1974) – Buddy's youngest sister. Manages the storefront and sometimes handles billing. She has three kids Teresa "Tessy" Colegrove, John Colegrove and Isabella Valastro.
• Elisabetta "Lisa" Valastro (née Belgiovine) (born March 9, 1979) – Buddy's wife. They have four kids, Sofia Valastro, Carlo Valastro, Marco Valastro and Buddy Valastro, Jr. Her parents, Gloria Tammacco and Mauro Belgiovine, who are seen in the show, are from Molfetta, Puglia.
• Maurizio Belgiovine – delivery boy and structure builder. He is Buddy's brother-in-law and a graduate of Rutgers Business School.
• Ralph Attanasia III (born September 6, 1984) – bakery sculptor.
• Marissa Lopez – Buddy's intern (winner of Season 2 of Next Great Baker), later becoming manager of Carlo's Bakery's new location in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
• Mary Valastro Pinto – (April 17, 1948 – June 22, 2017) Buddy's mother. A show regular until her 2010 retirement; still appeared on the show on occasion. Announced in 2012 that she was diagnosed with ALS. The family's struggle and reaction was documented in the Season 5 episode, "A Bittersweet Homecoming", on July 23, 2012. Mary died on June 22, 2017, after a five-year battle with ALS.
• Remigio "Remy" Gonzalez – Buddy's former left-hand man and the ex-husband of Buddy's sister, Lisa. Remy's first and only child, daughter Isabella, was born on the Cake Boss episode "Mother's Day, Mama and Mom-to-be". He left the show after being arrested.
• Salvatore "Sal" Picinich (1947 – January 30, 2011) worked at the bakery from 1964 and was one of Buddy's most trusted employees. Picinich stopped appearing on the show at the end of 2009, when he began battling cancer, but returned in the summer of 2010 to accept the Employee of the Century Award on the occasion of the bakery's 100th anniversary. He died on January 30, 2011.
• Kevin "Stretch" Krand – a delivery boy who left the shop to continue his education.
• Tony "Tone-Tone" Albanese – Buddy's second intern.
• Daniella Storzillo – a sculptor and decorator at Carlo's. She left to work as a real estate sales associate.
• Stephanie "Sunshine" Fernandez – top decorator at Carlo's. She was the first female employee who did not work with sales, as stated by Buddy Valastro. She left for an opportunity to finish nursing school nine months earlier. Before leaving to become a nurse, she appeared on the show's spinoff, Next Great Baker, where she was chosen by the season 2 winner, Marissa Lopez, to help her build her American Dream cake.
• Dana Herbert – winner of Season 1 of Next Great Baker
• Ashley Holt – winner of Season 3 of Next Great Baker
• Paul Conti – bakery employee (former contestant of Season 3 of Next Great Baker); was only in a couple of episodes because he lost his house and his job due to Hurricane Sandy. He eventually got a job working for a baking supply company.
• Anthony "Cousin Anthony" Bellifemine – baker and former delivery boy, Bellifemine left unexpectedly at the end of season 6 (Ep. 28: Up, Up and Away).
• Chad Durkin – Bakery employee (former contestant of Season 3 of Next Great Baker, hired by Buddy for his pastry skills (seasons 7–8).

Tie-ins and spinoffs

On November 2, 2010, Buddy Valastro's book, Cake Boss: Stories and Recipes from Mia Famiglia, which is based on the series, was released. Published by Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Carlo's Bake Shop, the book features the history and stories of Valastro's family and the bake shop, along with recipes.

Valastro's second book, Baking with the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy's Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets, is a cookbook, also published by Atria Books, released November 1, 2011 and featuring Valastro's cake, pastry and decorating recipes.

The success of Cake Boss has led to a spin-off competition series hosted by Valastro, Next Great Baker, in which people compete to win a top cash prize, other valuable prizes, and an apprenticeship at Carlo's Bakery. The program's first season was seen on TLC December 6, 2010 through January 24, 2011, with a second season televised November 28, 2011 to January 30, 2012. The competition's third season premiered on Monday, November 26, 2012.

Another spinoff series, Kitchen Boss, debuted on January 25, 2011. It featured Valastro presenting his family's recipes, as well as special guests, including members of his own family.

A backdoor pilot special, Bakery Boss, debuted on May 27, 2013. The special features Valastro traveling to a struggling bakery, Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort, New York, and helping them reverse their fortunes, using a format similar to Kitchen Nightmares. The program returned to TLC as a series on December 2, 2013, and was later renamed Buddy's Bakery Rescue. Buddy's intern, Ashley Holt, served as Culinary Producer for the series. Cake Boss also has a product line that features baking pans and decorating accessories.

Episodes

In popular culture

Comedian Paul F. Tompkins plays a parody of Cake Boss host Buddy Valastro on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and IFC TV show.

See also

In Spanish: Cake Boss para niños