NJ bakers do battle on this new Hulu competition show
What a delicious looking turkey for the Thanksgiving table. Mmm, and look at that mouthwatering meatball sub.
Except they’re not. Both are cakes. You might never know it until you sink in.
That’s the challenging concept behind a new competitive baking show on Hulu hosted by New Jersey’s own Buddy “Cake Boss” Valastro. Samantha Seneviratne co-hosts. It’s called “Cookie Cupcake Cake.”
Each episode is a stand-alone pitting four bakers against each other. A thing the show specializes in is the challenge of creating sweets that realistically look like anything but.
If you can fool the eye, then delight the palate — you’re in good shape here.
Contestants don’t know until the night before what they’ll have to create and they’re not allowed to bring their own baking tools.
No pressure!
Three New Jersey bakers are competing in the series but not against each other. They’re in different episodes.
One is Megan Aucone of Sayreville. She works as lead pastry chef for Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace and the lead cake decorator at their Tinton Falls location. She can be seen in episode eight, "Animal Kingdom," and episode 11, "Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner."
Then there’s Cristian Rojas who works as a Neptune-based baker and runs The Cake Whisperer. Rojas will appear in episode four, "To the Market," and episode 12, "Here Comes the Wedding."
A third New Jersey contestant will be pastry chef Aishia Martinez of Hudson County.
As far as winning or losing, for Cristian Rojas just getting to meet Buddy Valastro was the win.
"Just being there with him was a huge thing for me, and … getting judged by him, and the fact that everything was very positive about what I did — that was a very, very big thing for me," Rojas said.
“From not speaking English and not knowing anything, getting to the top ... You have to work for it, work hard for it. It can happen to anybody."
“Cookie Cupcake Cake” is now streaming on Hulu.
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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.