snapshot/not taipei: CARLO'S BAKE SHOP aka Cake Boss

Hey everyone! I'm on the east coast for a few days and wishing I had more time to eat around NYC. But this weekend is all about the relatives and my cousin's wedding. Took the red eye friday night and got in early at 6am.

On the way from JFK to NJ, I decided to stop by Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ, which you might recognize from the TV show, Cake Boss. My mom and dad had never seen the show before and thought it was kind of crazy there was a line outside at 8am, when you could buy Dunkin Donuts or have McD's down the street with free wifi without any wait. It WAS kind of crazy- waiting outside for the 'wave in' and ticket number and then more waiting with too many people inside the narrow bakery. I thought that it wouldn't be too crowded on 8am on a Saturday, but I was wrong! Though the line outside looked short, there was a crowd of people jammed inside and we probably waited another half hour for our number to come up.

Saw some people picking up cakes and overheard things like "and your balance is $400"!!! No prices or menu listings anywhere, so when it was finally our turn I had to quiz the server 'how much' and 'what is this?' We got a little assortment of stuff- cupcakes, mini tiramisu and some strawberry cream thing, but my eyes were on the cannolis! Available plain or dipped in chocolate, the small ones were sold by weight ($12+ per pound) and the larger cannolis were $2.50 each.

I opted to get a box of 10 of the smaller ones and then they were filled with cream and dusted with powdered sugar. Crispy, creamy, sweet- the box intended for sharing with my relatives kind of ended up as my breakfast for the next few days.