43
Cake Boutique to battle on Food Network’s “Cake Wars”
By Kalea Hall
HOWLAND
Penny Bennett and Stella Kotsatos-Angelo don’t miss an episode of “Cake Wars” on Food Network.
The two bakers from The Cake Boutique in Howland certainly will not miss Monday’s episode when they will appear as contestants in a baking battle.
The “Cobra’s Curse” episode features four bakers battling to have their cake creation as the centerpiece of a party celebrating the grand opening of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s newest thrill ride, Cobra’s Curse.
Brian Morrow, corporate vice president of Theme Park Experience, will join “Cake Wars” host Jonathan Bennett and judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas to help crown the $10,000 winner.
Bennett initially started The Cake Boutique out of her home in 2006, and Kotsatos-Angelo would come and help her bake cakes. After Kotsatos-Angelo and her husband both lost their jobs, it was decided they would open a storefront cake shop.
“At this point, I had decided running the business was going to be my new job,” Kotsatos-Angelo said. “Penny decided she was still having fun, so she joined me.”
The Cake Boutique at 4248 N. River Road NE came to be in January 2010. Through the years, the bakery shop started to become known for its unique designs and wide variety of flavors and fillings, such as the Pina Colada flavor and chocolate-covered strawberry truffle filling.
The Cake Boutique also offers customized desserts and cookies.
“The Cake Boutique takes pride in creating a memory you can taste for any and every event you can think of,” Kotsatos-Angelo said. “We do amazing cakes from weddings to gender reveal and everything in between.”
Kotsatos-Angelo applies to be cast on every Food Network show. One day, she got a call from the network while at her aunt’s funeral to tell her she was selected to be on “Cake Wars.”
“It turned a dark day into a dreamy one that I will never forget,” she said.
She called Bennett to meet her at the shop to hear the news.
“We were honored to have been selected out of thousands of applicants and finally given the opportunity to show off our talents and amazing taste,” Kotsatos-Angelo said. “Our dream is to share our product with everyone. We also wanted to showcase our amazing staff.”
For information in the cake shop, go to: www.cakeboutiqueshop.com/.