Baking with the Cake Boss

Yes, that's me with Buddy Valastro from TLC's Cake Boss! A super awesome friend and fellow blogger invited me to go along with her to a flash-baking session with Buddy at the M&M's store in Times Square. Of course, I accepted! Who doesn't love meeting celebrities and eating food?

image: Diane Bondareff

All of the attendees were given our own little decorating area with supplies. The supplies were all from Buddy's new Cake Boss line of baking and decorating supplies. What I love about these supplies is that they are designed to make it easy for the everyday baker be his or her own "cake boss" at home!

I don't know if you can see it in the picture above, but the baking sheet has little indentations on it to help you know where to plop your cookie batter so that it's all evenly spaced and just the right amount. Spacing and dough amount really help your cookies bake more evenly and deliciously!

Buddy showed us how to decorate two cupcakes and two cookies using frosting and icing. And when I say he showed us, he really showed us. He was demonstrating on his own cupcakes and cookies and coming around to make sure we were all doing it right. I got a personal lesson on giving myself the finger (proper technique!) when writing on a cookie with icing! 

image: Diane Bondareff

What do you think of my attempt at a clock cookie for New Year's Eve? This cookie design is actually in Buddy's new book Family Celebrations with the Cake Boss, which I got a free and autographed copy of. Don't worry! I'll review it soon!

Had a great time learning some decorating tips with the Cake Boss and decorating cupcakes and cookies with M&Ms. Using colorful M&Ms on your cookies and cupcakes is an easy way to add some zest and festiveness to your goodies! It's easy for kids, too, and they'll love using M&Ms to decorate their own stuff. Plus, it's fun! And you can snack on the M&Ms as you work. At least, that's what I'd do!

Here's one last image for you that I thought was pretty funny. I'm totally intense about the proper way to hold an icing bag! Such a good student!

image credit: Diane Bonareff