The cronut will live on as one of the most viral baked goods ever made.
But a new challenger has emerged to take over as one of the most viral food items ever produced.
These strange cakes have now reached the masses after a host on HBO challenged a small, upstate New York bakery to make them.
“Bear cakes” sell like hot cakes
The deranged, woke extremist host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver, has started a frenzy that took a small bakery in Kingston, New York by surprise.
It all started on June 2 when Oliver announced that he was the proud owner of the contents from a closed Red Lobster restaurant in Kingston.
Oliver later recreated the restaurant into a studio.
Meanwhile, a News 12 reporter went by the shuttered Red Lobster location and found a note on the door.
The note was from a man named Eric Deising who said his bakery (Deising’s Bakery and Restaurant) was interested in buying some of the equipment, including a flat grill and a convection oven.
The news reporter made the discovery a feature story, and staff at Oliver’s HBO show heard about it.
Soon, Oliver decided to issue a challenge to the bakery.
He sang the praises of a “bear cake” that he found on the bakery’s website, and offered to buy the equipment for them if they’d make the same cake with his face on it.
Deising’s nephew, Peter, told News 12 that “it was insane.”
“We had no clue we were going to be featured on the show until I woke up early Monday, I looked at my phone and I had 3,000 notifications, I said, ‘Guess we’re making a bear cake,’” he added.
The bakery made a large cake for Oliver and then started to make a smaller version, selling 80 of them in less than an hour that same morning for $8 each.
Since the whole thing went viral, the crew at the bakery has been working nonstop and said they sell “about 100 an hour.”
“I’ve gotten social media messages from people who said they’re driving four hours to get a cake with John Oliver’s face on it. We’re getting shout-outs from New Zealand and the UK. It’s just absurd,” said Deising.
All proceeds are going to help a local food pantry
Not only is Deising’s Bakery thrilled about the exposure, but they’re donating all of the proceeds from the bear cakes to a local food pantry.
The money will go to People’s Place, a local organization that has a community café, food pantry, thrift store, farm stand, and wellness center.
Christine Hein, Executive Director of People’s Place, says they are “beyond thrilled.”
The community café served 1.5 million meals last year and Hein says the need this year is “25 to 30 percent higher.”
“Quite honestly, we’re here for everybody. There are people working 40 hours plus a part-time job and still struggling to pay for housing, health, and food because it is so expensive to live in the Hudson Valley,” she said.
She also said they’re very appreciative of the people at the bakery and they have been supportive of the organization “for years.”
US Political Daily will keep you updated on any developments to this ongoing story.
