Aren't the people they cast on this show supposed to be really talented. No offense to the contestants I know first hand how difficult cake decorating is and I am by no means qualified to be on the show but I've seen tons of cakes made by people from CC that deserve to be there much much more. On top of that there desserts didn't even taste good. Is it me am I crazy!!!??? Just venting........

Well, I'm not sure how these contestants are found, perhaps some are very talented all of the time and others collapse under pressure. Also keep in mind that sometimes people have employees do a lot of their work and recipes are already mixed. Food for thought.

It seems obvious to me that Buddy isn't the one to choose the contestants but rather the producers that are going for ratings and entertainment value over talent. I'm sure Buddy would have recognized many skilled artists that were overlooked yet not chosen as contestants.

It's a shame to see that kind of prize money being offered while many with deserving talents aren't chosen as contestants.

Yeah I agree with you all def for television entertainment rather than based on TRUE talent. I think Im done watching the show as well!

This show and Cake Boss have started to irritate me. It has become more about dramatics than cake. I also think it's funny that in the last episode Buddy chastised that one guy about his fairy being too manly (which it was a bit bulky) when the majority of his sculpted pieces are made by other decorators in the shop. I could be wrong, but the only small sculpted characters I recall him making are the princess ones from his daughters birthday in Disney, and those characters were a bit "bulky" as well.

I hope more episodes of Amazing Wedding Cakes, and Fabulous Cakes come back on- those shows depicted wonderful cake artists and their work (with just enough drama for fun).

I can't help but to watch - especially when they chewed that guy out for using a cake mix. I actually was pretty entertained by that bit. Of course, that guy didn't get sent home...

Keep in mind a couple of things:

1. Especially at the start of a show, they are in a strange kitchen and don't know where things are. Being given a time limit to make something in a totally strange kitchen is harder than you realize. Especially if they weren't given much time to figure out where things were beforehand (which, most likely, they were not).

2. It's easy to say "Oh, there are all these talented people on Cake Central," which is so totally true. But you have to realize a) a lot of those people have bakeries or jobs and cake take teh 4-6 weeks away to try to win the money and b) Many of the beautiful cakes members share took a lot of work to do. Maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. And when you're facing a time deadline in a strange setup (and having to dodge the film crew), it's a lot tougher than working in a familiar environment.

Please note: No, I am not nor have I been on the show. But having done reality competition cooking, I have some idea of what they are facing.

Like I said I'm no professional either but I wasn't just talkin about the cakes they made for the elimination challenge. They did a small synopsis about each competitor and showed clips of cakes they made outside of the competition and only one or two of them were really impressive.

I have enough drama in my own life, I can't take the drama from this show & Cake Boss, too.

Yes, it was surprising to me as well. However, this is a sad footnote to the series.

http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2011/oct/27/fort-bragg-soldier-dies-gunshot-wound-ar-1544599/

Wow I'm in total shock! I feel terrible what a sad story. He seemed like a nice guy... My prayers are with his family.

OK, I'm dense, was that the guy on the show that made cake mix? I wasn't watching it close enough for back story but I know there was a soldier on there.

Yes the guy who used the cake mix was Wesley and he was the soldier.

I Googled this and haven't found any article crediting him as a contestant - but it obviously is him. Now that's sad, I'm assuming suicide?

I also feel that they are looking for contestants that are going to "put on" for the camera to boost the ratings. These shows should be about showcasing talented bakers/decorators. jmho

I was vieing as a contestant for this show, missed the first show but watched last nights show. I am PISSED! These people have absolutely no cake skills to speak of! Are they all amatures? Like someone else said it is a shame that so much money went to someone whose cake talents are less deserving than many of those (and I met several in the process) whose skills are top notch and weren't selected. I am beginning to think that if you had great cake skills you weren't chosen because they don't want anyone who could possibly show up Buddy. Don't get me wrong, Buddy is a great decorator but it is his show and he needs to always come off as way better than the winner.

OK, last night's episode had serious WTF? moments for me...

First, people actually EAT icing that has that much food color in it (baker's challenge)? DISGUSTING. The wooden prep table was stained pink and purple for the rest of the episode. Ug.

Second, what the hell do you mean, "I don't know how to pipe?" How the eff did you get on a national CAKE show? I mean, piping ain't my strong suit but if I was picked I'd be taking the 1st Wilton class I could sign up for to beef up those skills, at least watch you tube videos, or sit down and make rose after rose after rose....

Third, Buddy's cake was completely ugly, had bare spots in the base icing and his piping was all over the place. Master he is not.

Fourth, the "winning" cake was a freakin disgrace.

And the carving? OMG haven't these people watched some episodes of Challenge or Amazing Cakes? C'mon! And where was the cake in 2 of the "cakes" done? Except the one that collapsed, they were ALL rice crispy treats. Did you also notice that the one that collapsed had NO supports? No foam core, no cardboard plates, no support straws. Just layers of cake and nasty crisco buttercream. The part that didn't collapse was all crispy treats. <shaking head>

And does anyone else think the cake they have been using looks burned to cinders? Seriously, I keep thinking they are grabbing chocolate cake till they start carving into it revealing yellow. Gross.

Sigh.

I agree, Buddy's cake looked like crap too. What really made me mad was when he bulldozed their cakes. As someone who knows what went into those cakes, I don't care how awful they look, how can you do that to someone? They might not have been good enough for a paying cusomer's event, but you could have cut that cake up and served it at a food shelter where I'm sure they don't get cake very often.

And then when he tried to eliminate the lady who was not the leader, and it wasn't her fault the cake died. Not okay! I think that part was either scripted, or he was told to keep the guy because he would create drama with megan.

"They might not have been good enough for a paying cusomer's event, but you could have cut that cake up and served it at a food shelter where I'm sure they don't get cake very often. "

Could not agree, I'm appalled at the waste of good food/cake on this show.

I'm also tired of Buddy, he's so up himself I'm surprised he fits through the door!

That's the thing - there was no cake on those things. They were all crispy treats.

By the looks of it, I refuse to believe the cake they have been playing with is cake or icing that was meant to be eaten. Burnt and so full of chemicals!

I know it seems like a good notion to give food, any food, to homeless shelters, but believe me, no homeless shelter of food bank would want 50 lbs of rice crispy treats. They won't even take left over cake. They want nutritious, unprepared or canned food. I know, I've contacted several shelters in my area (San Francisco = massive homeless population) to find one that would accept cake I have left over and I've been turned down by them all. The last thing they want to give someone that hasn't had a decent meal in weeks is a hand-full of sugar.

So, to me, yeah, I'm fine with smashing those horrendous things with a steam roller. They weren't fit for consumption.

Here is a link, it was the army guy that was shot:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11335/1193536-34-0.stm

It says in the article - it was acknowledged on the show on Monday. I didn't see it acknowledged on the show, on Monday. Did I miss that????

Here's the quote:
Her little projects morphed into big cakes. Last April, she entered an elaborate confection modeled after the couple's bulldog, Chops, in a fundraiser contest judged by the "Cake Boss" himself, Buddy Valastro. It opened the door for something completely unexpected.

"I didn't win, but I think it got me noticed," she said.

She was saying she didn't win the fundraiser contest. There's no way they would publish any kind of results before the show. I'm really disappointed that they didn't mention Wesley is the episode. That's something that should be awknowledged.