Buddy Valastro began working in his family's bakery, Carlo's Bakery, at a young age and developed a talent for cake decorating. He took over the bakery when his father passed away at age 17. Valastro has since grown the bakery into an immense success through his innovative and elaborate cake designs. The bakery produces hundreds of cakes each week and is featured on the popular TLC show "Cake Boss." Despite challenges, Valastro's dedication to cake artistry and his family's bakery business has allowed him to achieve his dream of making Carlo's Bakery a household name.

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Natalie Granda
Mrs. Corbett
Senior Project Research Paper
17 November 2011
The Cake Boss
In America, it is a common tradition to have cake at different celebrations throughout
life. Cakes today have become far more advanced than that of ancient cake making. Cake
making became easier in the 1840’s with the invention of baking soda and baking powder. As
time goes on, people stretched the limitation of cakes. Cakes are now larger and more intricate
than ever. Perfecting the art of cake making and decorating is the aspiration of many; Buddy
Valastro is one who has this art mastered.
Currently, Buddy Valastro works with his family at Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, New
Jersey. The now well-known bakery all got started with Valastro’s father. Valastro’s father came
from Sicily, Italy as an immigrant at the age of thirteen. His family was so poor that they were
forced to rummage through other peoples’ garbage to find scraps of food. When they came to
America he did not have anything to his name; the only thing he did have was determination.
When he was in his twenties he began working at Carlo’s bakery. In 1963 he ended up buying
Carlo’s bakery and keeping the same name in honor of the previous owner. He was determined
to make sure his family was secure and he was able to provide for them. However, he also made
sure the whole family worked together in the bakery, even young Buddy.

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Buddy Valastro began working in the bakery at the age of eleven, but he would only
work on weekends. By working in the bakery Buddy seemed to have found his niche. He knew
that this is what he would want to do for the rest of his life. He worked hard and learned things
from working hard at everything that he did. In Charlotte Triggs’ interview with Buddy Valastro
he said, “‘My dad wanted me to know what it was like to be everybody in the bakery. The thing
is, everything they made me do, I was good at’” (Triggs). When something would go wrong with
any of the cakes his dad would get him out of school so he could fix the problem. He would have
this natural talent that would help him go far in his life. By the age of fifteen he was decorating
the bakery’s most elaborate wedding cakes. At the age of fifty-four Valastro’s father died of
lung cancer. Buddy was only seventeen when his father died and at that young age was now
being forced to take over the business. He dropped out of high school to take his father’s place at
the bakery. In an instant, he was now in charge of a bakery with over thirty employees now
looking towards him. He had to handle all this on top of grieving the loss of his father. People
doubted him and thought that without his father there the business would undoubtedly go under
and could never be the same. Buddy was determined to prove them wrong. He wanted to prove
that he was more than just a kid, and he wanted to make the business a success for his father. His
ultimate goal was to make Carlo’s Bakery a household name. At this point he was unaware of
just how huge this business would become.
Just as Buddy wanted it, Carlo’s Bakery has become famous. The bakery is featured on
the TLC show “Cake Boss” and new episodes come on once a week. The bakery is busy all year
round, and every week there are copious amounts of deserts that are made. Detailed in the article
“Reality show takes the cake,” each week they make “50 to 60 wedding cakes, 300 to 600
birthday cakes, 2,000 cupcakes, thousands of pastries (cannoli, lobster tails, biscotti, and éclairs)

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and several complex, intricately designed cakes.” There is always something to be done in the
bakery. There are constantly orders to be made or desserts to be made for purchase. Generally,
the show features the most elaborate cakes. Some are astounding to think that it is even possible
for a cake like that to be made. Buddy Valastro’s cakes are nothing short of jaw dropping. Some
of the more extreme cakes to be seen on the show include a wedding cake that had a tier in the
middle to house two doves, a four-hundred pound cake that was made to look like an extinct
mammal, and even a scene with huge toy soldiers. He even made a cake in the shape of a toilet
that actually flushed. When it comes to cake, people want cakes that are more elaborate and over
the top than ever seen before. They want something that has never been made before. Buddy
Valsatro is one that is willing and excited to make these extravagant cakes that constantly
challenge him to get better at what he does. One of Valastro’s most challenging cakes was a cake
he made for NASCAR. The cake needed to be the size of a real car and ended up at about twenty
thousand pounds. Being that there is no mold to make a cake the size of a car, Valastro had to
use trial and error to get it the perfect size and shape. He also had to make sure that the cake was
perfectly decorated to look like a NASCAR car. If that was not challenging enough, Valastro
only had three days to make this extreme cake. However, with his dedication and skill he was
able to pull it off and make it look incredible. For Valastro’s wife’s thirtieth birthday he decided
to make her a cake of herself. This may have been even more challenging than the NASCAR
cake in the respect that if he did not get the cake just right he could be in trouble with his wife.
He knew it was risky but decided to go for it regardless. Despite the potential for things to go
wrong the cake turned out just the way he wanted it to and his wife, Lisa, loved it.
One of the main things Valastro wanted to accomplish was making sure it was a family
show and that he could give back. Family is Valastro’s main priority, even put before the bakery.

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In an interview with Liza Hamm, when asked what he thought was the best thing about the
incredible success of his show on TLC was Valastro said, “ ‘I love that it brings families together
for half an hour every week’” (Hamm). Even though in the show the family can be seen yelling
at each other when things go wrong, the love they have for each other is never ending. Valastro
has the idea that a family can be compared to tiramisu. Although complex in all it’s different
layers, when it is all put together it is something amazing. Christmas is a big family holiday and
that is no different for the extremely large extended family that Valastro has. However, he still
opens his bakery in the morning on Christmas day. He wants to make sure that if someone was
looking forward to getting a special treat from Carlo’s bakery that they were able to. He does not
want to disappoint his loyal customers or their families. Valastro always wants to make sure that
he is giving back. That is why when he was asked by the Make a Wish Foundation to make a
cake with a seven year-old girl who had terminal cancer, he was more than happy and willing to.
In a post interview about it with Nanci Hellmich, Valastro talked about her and said, “ ‘She was
in a wheelchair and she barely had the strength to pick up the knife. She wanted to make a cake
in the shape of heaven cause she knew that is where she was going.’” (Hellmich). He wanted to
make sure she got to do exactly what she wanted and have a bit of happiness instilled in her.
Despite all the amazing things that Valastro and the bakery accomplishes, things do not
always turn out as perfect as Valastro would want them to. Not everyone who receives their
cakes are completely happy and amazed by them. Valastro showed a bride her finished cake and,
having nothing but dislike towards it, she squirted different colored icing all over it. She was a
perfect example of how even with putting in all your hard work there is no way that everyone
can be pleased. There have also been disasters that caused them to have to work extra at the last
minute. On one occasion an employee accidentally dropped a three-thousand dollar cake, that

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was meant to serve two-hundred people at a sweet sixteen birthday party down the stairs. There
was nothing that could be done other than to remake the extremely large cake. On another
occasion five large wedding cakes got ruined. Again, there was nothing that could be done other
than to remake them. However, this time they only had four hours to remake these meticulously
designed wedding cakes. Even though Valastro may experience problems such as these, he will
never let them set him back.
Ultimately, Valastro was able to honor his father and his father’s hard work by making
the bakery into a success. Valastro is a picture of the American dream. He was able to turn a
small bakery into an unbelievable success and a household name. He has an amazing amount of
success to be proud of. He has been able to create things that others would never attempt nor
would they even think possible. Small failures will never bring down the grand success that
Valastro has made. With his family by his side, he will undoubtedly go on to bigger and more
extreme cakes. Buddy Valastro has made himself into the unchallenged cake boss.

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Works Cited
Bonfitto, Christina, Jonathan Caluori, and Alyssa Izzo. "Cake Boss' enjoys being on television,
but
creating beautiful deserts is his mission." Newspaper Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62212048293&site=src-live.>.
" cakes by: Buddy Valastro ." Carlos Bakery. WSI, 2007. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.carlosbakery.com/About/BartoloBuddyValastro.php>.
Eaton, Lorraine. "Cake Boss's artistry comes iced to perfection." Newspaper Source. N.p., n.d.
Web.
17 Oct. 2011. <http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W6922863516&site=src-live.>.
Hamm, Liza. "Christmas with the CAKE BOSS." EBSCO. time inc., 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/
detail?
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U9ZWhvc3QtbGl2
ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=59703206>.
Hellmich, Nanci. "Cake Boss' key ingredient: Family ." EBSCO. time inc. , 2010. Web. 14 Oct.
2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/

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detail?
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- - -. "Reality show takes the cake." EBSCO. time inc., 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/
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GU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=J0E373490949809>.
Hennessy, Christina. "'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro stops at Shubert, R.J. Julia." Newspaper
Source.
N.p., 3 Nov. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W61460002852&site=src-live.>.
Kahn shelton, Sandi. "'Bakin' with the Boss.'" Newspaper Source. N.p., 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 17
Oct.
2011. <http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W671931049&site=src-live.>.
Triggs, Charlotte. "INSIDE THE SUGARY WORLD OF BUDDY VALASTRO, BAKE-
MEISTER ON TLC'S TOP-RATED SHOW
." EBSCO . Time inc., 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/

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detail?
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Witchel, Alex. "A Cake Boss Easter Treat, Sugar-Free." EBSCO. time inc., 2010. Web. 14 Oct.
2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/
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vid=12&hid=19&sid=c711bf31-3dbe-43d6-8e95-1fb3a433b782%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpd
GU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
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