A big fat slice of life from Ireland: CAKE BOSS: Visiting Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

CAKE BOSS: Visiting Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey.

We are just back from a fantastic morning. We are in New York, snow is on the ground and the four children were more excited about today than any other on our trip to the USA. They were more excited about today than visiting the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park or even Times Square, which is right outside our bedroom window (Double Tree Suites, bang in the middle of Times Square is a great place to stay in NY if you are a family of six).

We were leaving glorious Manhattan for the shores of New Jersey. We were going to find the legendary Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken. For reality TV fans, this is the home of Cake Boss. Home of the greatest cakes, cookies and pastries in the world.

Getting there is simple. We took a short train ride just 40 minutes from Times Square to Hoboken. We took the PATH train from 33 street and got off at the final stop of Hoboken. Carlo's Bake Shop is a five minute walk from the station on Washington Street.

We were dreading the queues. The internet is full of tales of two hours waiting in line for mediocre cakes. I guess that you should not believe everything you read because we almost walked right past the store - there were no queues. Not one single person! It was raining lightly and snow was on the ground which combined may have kept people at home. It was a Wednesday morning at ten and we walked right in to the bake shop, to our delight.

The place is smaller than it seems on the television. The kids were so happy, they knew the name of every single cake for sale from Lobster Tails to Red Velvet to Crumb Cake. We bought them all. The highlight for them was to meet Madeline. She was an inspiration to all foodies. She told us that we were the fourth visitors from Ireland today and that when I go home I am to put onion in with my potatoes when I am boiling them as they will taste nicer, adding "I am ALL about food".

We had previously visited the new Cake Boss shop on Manhattan where there is a cafe and loads of places to sit. It is packed - there is even a ticketing machine to help keep the queues moving. In the New Jersey bakery, there is nowhere to sit. We took our cake box outside and ate in the park. It was cold but the views of Manhattan were to die for. The cheesecake, red velvet and crumb cakes were divine and well worth the journey from Ireland.

If you are fans of the show. GO. It is just great and Hoboken has loads to see. It is the birthplace of Frank Sinatra as well as the greatest bakery on earth!